Adam Ballantine

I am Adam Ballantine (s3916401), and I was born in Australia to two migrant parents. I am a member of A2 Group #10. In 2004 I graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy and Archaeology, after which I worked in the liquor industry until 2019. At this point I became a stay-at-home-parent to my (now) 3-year-old son. As I start to think about getting back into the workforce, my plan is to do it with new qualifications in IT and change industries, fulfilling a lifelong dream of learning programming. This dream began while playing video games as a child and was then nurtured when I was able to do basic programming on my graphical calculator in high school. My ideal job is one day being a Project Manager.

Alexander Goldberg

Introducing Alexander Goldberg (student ID: s3915293). I am Australian born and possibly tank-bred to parents of Filippino and Ukrainian descent. I belong to this group called A2 Group #10 where we are all cool cats. I am a certified Audio Engineer and Music Producer, attaining a bachelors because you know you need those to make music. Where I currently work as a facilities assistant for a campus, I deal with a lot of the IT service and help for the students, and staff. My interests in IT stems from my need for wanting to learn something new and eventually developing skills in IT. I would like to build some form of program that could aid in my current music endeavours or simply making a ‘flappy bird’ like game and getting rich. My ideal job is one day being a Software Developer in Games.

Ashley Wilkie

I am Ashley Wilkie (student-ID: S3905549). I was born in Redcliffe, Queensland. I am a member of the group called A2 Group #10. I didn't finish high school but have done a couple of Certificates 4 in Personal training, mental health and youth worker, a diploma in Leadership & Theory. I work as an audio-video technician, been working in this job for five years now. I enrolled in a bachelor's in IT to help me understand IT better and hopefully move into programming or mobile app development. I wouldn't mind creating software that could help within the AV industry. My hobbies are playing Squash playing board games. My ideal job is one day being a Mobile App Developer.

Jessica Warburton

Hi, my name is Jessica Warburton (student-ID: s3858817). I was born in Hamilton, Victoria in 1993. I have worked with technology throughout most of my adult life whether that be doing web design / development, technical troubleshooting or working in help desks. I’m currently employed with a managed service provider. My interest in the field of technology was spurred on by the sheer amount of information that there is to cover. There is always something new to learn and a chance to be a beginner again. My interest in IT skyrocketed when I met my partner who is a software engineer. She taught me so much about different technologies and introduced me to C# and helped solidify a lot of programming concepts as well as some of the mathematics behind computer science. I have an interest in retro computing, not only for nostalgia’s sake but because of the simplicity and ability to understand what is going on inside the systems. My ideal job is one day being an Infrastructure Engineer.

Karsten Beck

My name is Karsten Beck (student-ID: s3912792) and I am a German-born Australian and came to Australia in 2009. I have done a master’s degree in chemistry and a PhD in Molecular Biology at Ludwig-Maximilian’s University Munich. After that, I worked in Medical Devices Sales for 16 years and opened my own little Web & Graphic design business in 2020 as I could not find employment during COVID-19. I speak German and English. In 2010 I married my wonderful wife in Vanuatu on the beach without any family attending. Out witnesses were people we have met on the day, one the resort manager and the other the resort bartender. We have had a wonderful honeymoon over there. My ideal job is one day being an IT Systems Analyst.

Paul Archie

Hi, my name is Paul Archie (student-ID: s3916672). I was born in Tasmania in 1964 in a small rural community. I completed my schooling in year 10 as that is all the public system went to. I started an apprenticeship in 1980 as a Boilermaker/Welder. I worked for the same company until 1988 when I was made redundant. I moved to Queensland in 1998 to give my sons a better opportunity to make a life for themselves. I had been tending to friends and families IT issues as a hobby up until 2000 when I was forced out of my trade due to an injury. I was given the opportunity to work in a retail computer store for a while which gained me enough knowledge that I decided to take it on as a full-time career. I ran my own IT repair business from 2005 to 2013. In 2019 I decided to go back into business and have been running my own IT mobile repair business since. I find IT is an industry that is only going to grow exponentially, and I enjoy helping clients fix their IT issues. My hobby is Remote Controlled cars. My ideal job is one day being an IT Support Officer.