Caleb Rodgers: A friendly face on campus
For many, Caleb Rodgers is a familiar and friendly face around campus. He is involved in countless clubs, works for the student union, YouX, and has a role with the University as a Succeed@Adelaide Ambassador.
This year, Caleb will begin his third-year at the 成人大片, studying a double degree in Electrical Engineering with Maths and Computer Science. A degree choice he says stems from his childhood.
鈥淚 started programming from like a really young age at around 10. I remember the first time I could make like a little application window pop up on my computer and I thought that was like the coolest thing ever.鈥
What are you enjoying about your double degree now?
Well, I thought that doing electrical engineering and computer science would be a really broad spectrum. And it is. So, it's everything from maths and physics through programming and making things that work on a computer.
Caleb you鈥檙e well known on campus for being a part of countless clubs, programs and different University and Union teams. Can you tell me a bit about how you started with that and where you are now?
I think the first thing I did was O鈥橶eek volunteering, and that led on to being a PASS (Peer Assisted Study Session) Leader, and that was a lot of fun. I love it when people come in and they don't understand stuff and then you get to see the moment where it just clicks, it鈥檚 so beautiful.
Currently, I'm working for Succeed@Adelaide at the University, and YouX as well.
As for clubs, I鈥檓 the president of the Electrical Electronic Engineering Society Adelaide University (EEESAU) and also the Swing Dancing Club. I鈥檓 also involved in the Salsa Dancing Club, Engineering Society, Math Society, and Comp-Sci Club.
Why was it so important to you to get involved in campus extra-curricular activities?
I think getting involved in campus culture, going to events, meeting people, that's what makes university a lot of fun.Caleb Rodgers
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I think also it just comes with the value of the university itself.听I feel like anything that you can learn in the these days, you can learn on the internet. But what you can't do on the internet is connect with people and learn in an environment where other people are doing the same thing as you and will likely go on to do similar things as you. And I think honestly, aside from getting a qualification, you're kind of wasting your time at Uni if you don't make those connections.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your first-year self?
Anything that comes out, any opportunities, just take it. It doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter how silly it sounds, how unreasonable it sounds鈥 never thought that I'd be the President of a club, let alone two clubs. I never thought I'd be working for the University.
Really, just go for it! Not everything's going to be exactly what you want but give it a try. That鈥檚 how you find out.
Caleb, where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
I guess in five years I'd most likely be finished with this degree, potentially doing postgraduate studies, but probably working in industry for a bit. Then in another 10 years, I kind of want to reevaluate how I feel about the engineering profession and maybe go back to Uni as a mature age student and try something completely different.
Sounds like you love the idea of being a life-long learner. What is it about Uni that just makes you want to keep coming back?
I think life鈥檚 one of those things you get given once, and so to me, it's about making the most of that. It's about meeting and having good relationships with as many people as possible. It's about going as many places as possible. And the third part is learning as many things as possible. I think learning things is a tool to see the world differently. And so it doesn't really matter what you're learning. There鈥檚 no kind of wasted learning.