UQ student's big wide world of possibilities
Graduate Daniel Parnell has just capped off his double degree in Business Management at UQ, and now he's off to share his significant achievements with the world.
Daniel Parnell has always made an effort to shake opportunity with both hands.
The recent University of Queensland graduate has much to celebrate. As UQ athletics team captain, Daniel helped oversee UQ’s 2018 UniSport Nationals Div 1 overall championship, making UQ Australia’s 2018 premier sporting university.
Daniel has just graduated with a double degree in Business Management (majoring in international business) and Arts (with an extended major in Mandarin Chinese and electives in sports science).
He has been attentive to his studies. His business skills are tight. He’s passionate about change management and has steered his own tailor-made computer retail and honey export business, using best-practice process improvements and efficiency approaches.
Daniel has a head for business.
He featured in several news stories about his sporting prowess, is a four-time Great Court Race veteran, and has represented UQ Athletics since 2015.
He found UQ to be the perfect place from which to grab opportunity and shake it with both hands
“I’m a UQ Employability Award recipient, which has been foundational for me. The award encourages you to look beyond your sphere of study and collate all of your student life experiences.”
“Finding out about the award inspired me to apply and combine my work experience, volunteer experience and five other activities which are used to demonstrate skills for employability.”
“I had quite a long list of experiences, as I’ve always been fortunate to be supported in every endeavour I’ve pursued. Some of those formative ones were the Confucius Institute study tour, Scouts Australia Mawson Scholarship in Leadership, Chinese Bridge Competition, Uni Nationals and commencing a business.
Daniel’s CV is a busy read, especially for someone so young. His studies have seen him experience life in China in 2012, 2017 and 2019. He has engaged in Sino-Australian Business activities through Trade-Investment QLD.
Participating in the UQ Chinese Bridge language competition certainly saw Daniel stepping out of his comfort zone.
“I’ve never performed solo in front of an audience, let alone singing in a foreign language, but it’s one experience I’ll never forget.”
“In 2017 I went to Tianjin, China with the UQ Confucius Institute tour,” Daniel said.
“Whilst on the tour, I undertook a Mandarin HSK4 exam and passed – this formal accreditation of language competency has opened doors for internships and future work.
“This led to my upcoming internship with the Australian Chamber of Commerce, which I start really soon after my graduation – I’ll be flying to Beijing in a few days.
“I’ve also been fortunate to gain employment in the Ford Graduate program commencing in January 2020, and will be heading to Melbourne next week to experience some cars in a product immersion!”
Daniel is in no doubt that his future career path has been due in large part to his time at UQ.
“The support provided through the BEL Faculty – including from the Student Employability Team who prepared me for my final interview with Ford – was fantastic.
I also received funding from the Business School and the UQ Advantage Grant which took me to China and shows what is possible with UQ’s support.
“I say to all future students, the support and the opportunities are all here at UQ. Grab them.”
Daniel has also used the skills he gained in his UQ business degree to begin exporting his family’s Australian honey to China using an ecommerce platform.
During his time at UQ, Daniel participated in a student staff partnership to redevelop the LTCS3002 course. He also provided feedback at a UQ Business School “flipped classroom” seminar for MGTS3301 course.
His responsibilities during his upcoming six months in Beijing with the Australian Chamber of Commerce will see him help draft policy for roundtables, developing and marketing the Auscham podcast, and participating in the Future Business Leaders program.
Post Beijing, he will be heading to Victoria to commence work with Ford Motor Company of Australia; you might see Daniel in a Mustang touring the Great Ocean Road in the upcoming Product Immersion to welcome new grads.
Daniel believes in paying it forward; and knows The University of Queensland has a strong and successful future, one that he encourages others to share.
Now I'm a proud UQ Alumni
Daniel Parnell with UQ Chancellor Mr Peter Varghese
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