Commerce graduate follows in family's footsteps

20 Jul 2009
For Natalie Griffin, studying her Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics at UQ Business School meant she was following in a strong family tradition. Natalie's father Don earned his UQ MBA in 1983 and siblings Scott, Kent, and twin sisters Alison and Diana, all completed Bachelor of Commerce degrees with UQ Business School. Natalie began studying at UQ Business School in 2004, and will officially receive her degrees this month after graduating at the end of 2008. And just how did her father and older siblings influence her decision to study with the UQ Business School? "My family has definitely influenced my study and career path to date. It was a pretty obvious choice for me to study at UQ given my Dad did his MBA there and all my older brothers and sisters have studied there," she said. "I like that we've all been able to study at one of Queensland's best universities." Following firmly in the footsteps of her parents and older brothers and sisters, Natalie also chose to embark on study and a career with plenty of numbers. "We've always been encouraged to pursue whatever we wanted, however strangely enough we all seem to enjoy commerce, finance and accounting," she said. Natalie's brother Scott, who helped set up Etax Accountants with his father Don Griffin, said virtually the whole family was in the finance and accounting business. "We even have an aunt who is an accountant, there's quite a few of us out there. And we're not just stereotypical boring accountants, Mum (Trish) and Dad even run marathons around the world, so dinnertime conversations are always pretty interesting, even if we do talk a bit about accounting," he said. Don Griffin, whose time at UQ influenced his children to study there, said it was 'quite exciting' that his family had all studied with the UQ Business School. "Accounting is a broad area, and they all had different interests," he said. The family has continued to study and gain higher qualifications, meaning Don and Natalie spent time at university together while Don achieved his Diploma in Journalism. "I think Natalie was pretty proud to have her Dad at uni with her," Don said. Since graduating, Don has owned a number of accounting practices throughout Queensland, and now owns Etax Accountants, while Natalie has been working in various departments at Macquarie Bank in Sydney. "UQ Business School has definitely prepared me well for the future. I am currently working in Sydney and applying my Bachelor of Commerce every day," Natalie said. "Being associated with UQ has been wonderful. Hopefully that association will continue for our grandchildren," Don said.

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