High Table with Professor Zlatko Skrbis

Head of College, Dr Jennifer McDonald welcomed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education & Innovation) at ACU and renowned sociologist, Professor Zlatko Skrbis and his wife Marta Skrbis as well as students undertaking courses at Australian Catholic University to High Table on Monday 5 August.

Professor Skrbis spoke of his educational and professional journey and how we as human beings need to continuously be inventive in order to survive. "Inventiveness is learnt, not inherited. Complacency cannot be your friend," said Professor Skrbis.

Professor Skrbis has a distinguished international research profile in the fields of migration, cosmopolitanism, social theory and youth studies. He is the Principal Chief Investigator on the multi-wave ARC Discovery Project ‘Social Futures and Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland’.

As you look forward to life and career with excitement and hopefulness that befits a young person, I urge you never to forget these three simple lessons:

1. It is all too easy to forget that you are not alone. You are not and you must not think you are.
2. You will experience a lot of change in your lives. Never take stability for granted.
3. Acknowledge your vulnerabilities and work with them, not against them. Don’t forget to be generous and take time to reflect on every step you take. And don’t forget to count your blessings.

- Professor Zlatko Skrbis