More than 2500 high schoolers and their families braved Perth’s wet weather for a sneak peek at university life at one of Australia’s biggest campuses this past weekend.
Murdoch University’s Open Day visitors were introduced to inspirational students and staff before being treated to guided tours of the University’s course offerings.
However, the event looked a little different than previous years as the festivities mimicked Murdoch’s successful Campus Day Out events, which were born after COVID-19 interrupted 2020, and large-scale events such as Open Day couldn’t go ahead as planned.
This year, future students were treated to bespoke tours based on their study interests, walked through campus facilities and ended with in depth course Q&A’s to learn what it’s like to ‘free your think’ at Murdoch University.
Vice Chancellor Professor Eeva Leinonen said the new, more targeted format for Open Day was very well received.
The weather gods smiled on us for at least part of the day and I understand the MU-branded beanies were a big hit – with many local students seen wearing them on their way to school this week!
Vice Chancellor Professor Eeva Leinonen
“Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time on Sunday to ensure Open Day was a great success, especially our events and marketing team for putting together a terrific showcase of our University.”
Crowd favourites for 2021
To kick off the fun, future students and their parents enjoyed a 20-minute welcome session MC’d by Murdoch Alumni and journalist Dominique Pratt, that showcased Murdoch’s ‘free thinking’ identity. Academics and current students spoke about courses on offer, job opportunities and their personal experience at Murdoch.
There was also a furry visitor who paid a special visit, one of Murdoch’s Therapy Dogs promoting one of the many types of support that is offered to students. It was also the perfect opportunity for visitors to enjoy Murdoch’s new visual identity, and contemporary look.
Students and their parents then had the option of attending a tour of the campus, an opportunity to explore the facilities and meet academics. At the end of each tour, excited visitors roamed around Bush Court, the heart of Murdoch’s Perth campus chatting to friendly advisors about admission pathways, scholarships and student support available.
Crowds were treated to four unique course specific activations across Bush Court where they could get hands-on with some of Murdoch’s most popular courses, giving them an insight of what’s on offer.
One of the exclusive activations was the Forensics, Criminology and Journalism ‘Murder Mystery Activity’. Students got to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes exploring forensics and criminological techniques to try and solve this ‘who dunnit’ murder mystery.
Whereas the Education Activity was a perfect fit for those aspiring to teach the next generation of free thinkers. Students were faced with a realistic classroom scenario through SimLabTM technology where they had a go teaching primary school students.
Missed out on Open Day 2021? Find out more on studying at Murdoch.