After Liam Rogers blazed the family trail to Trinity College in 2019, it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that his sister Charlotte would follow. But the siblings are glad she did.
From the outset, Liam Rogers knew he wanted to leave his Hobart home for uni life. ‘Melbourne seemed to be the perfect option,’ he says. ‘I came up for Open Day at Melbourne University and went around to all the colleges. Trinity was the one that excited me most. I fell in love with the grounds and buildings and it just seemed like a really cool place to live.’
Two years later, when his sister Charlotte was deciding where to study, she naturally considered Trinity, but also brainstormed other options outside Australia. 'I decided it was best to stay in the country. And if I was going to pursue an Australian college, I definitely wanted it to be Trinity – I’d seen how much fun Liam was having.’
‘There’s an excellent sense of community spirit [at college], which is the type of environment I thrive in,' says Charlotte, happy with her decision.
Liam agrees. ‘It’s really nice to be able to get to know so many people in a different way to how you can at a school. When you’re at school there are sometimes social barriers when people are in different year levels, but at college there’s none of that. Everyone is so open and friendly and I love that,’ says Liam.
Liam and Charlotte also made the most of their time together at college.
‘We’re pretty close,’ Charlotte says. ‘I missed Liam when he went away and sometimes when things were full on it was great to have a little bit of home [at college] with me.’
‘It was really nice to have Charlotte at Trinity,’ Liam says. ‘For two years I was the only person in my family who understood what I was talking about. But then she got to experience it too.’
They both also feel the move to Melbourne helped them academically, and Liam found his passion for data science. ‘When I first came to uni, I’d never done any sort of programming, but I tried one subject in first year and it captivated me.’
Charlotte’s love of music continued at Trinity through the college choir, and she also came to value the small, everyday interactions that college life brought. ‘Things like unexpected evenings when you end up sitting in someone’s room having a philosophical or political discussion until 2am, or suddenly seeing a new face I hadn’t met before and feeling comfortable enough to strike up a conversation. It made me realise how many people there are to make connections with.’
