Rod Sollesta

When Rod Sollesta accepted a scholarship to study at the new Adelaide campus of the prestigious United States institution, Carnegie Mellon University, he also had to sacrifice his job as a program officer with AusAID in Manila.

When he returned home a year later though, he was offered not one … but three jobs, and returned to AusAID as the Finance and Budget Manager.

“The degree not only assisted me to get my current job, but also improved my marketability,” says the Philippines-born professional. “Completing the program has also made heavy workloads and multi-tasking much more manageable.

“I chose CMU because of the public policy, management and IT blend offered in their Master of Science in Public Policy and Management,” Rod said. “And I chose Adelaide because that’s where CMU is located.”

“I was in Adelaide throughout 2008, and my friends used to tell me (and still tell me) that I had the best of both worlds – gaining a US diploma while studying in Australia.”

And Rod can’t help but agree.

“I’d definitely recommend Adelaide – it offers a good mix of Australian and international universities in a laidback environment. It also has a good urban set-up, so you can walk to a lot of places in the city, and it’s close to the wine regions too!

“While I was there I met scholars from all over the world, including the US, Canada, France, Sweden, India, Indonesia, Maldives and Burkina Faso (in West Africa), which highlights the increasing popularity of Adelaide as a destination for students who want to study abroad.”

Rod chose the option of graduate student housing at Kathleen Lumley College in North Adelaide during his year in Adelaide, with individual rooms complemented by common areas shared with students (and located just a 15-minute walk from the CMU campus).

He also picked up some part-time work, writing for an Adelaide-based international development consultancy firm.

Now back home in Manila (and armed with that all-important US/Australian Masters degree), Rod’s actively involved in the implementation of Australian aid program in the Philippines on track and looking to one day go out on his own as a consultant in international development.

And it’s lucky he’s got multi-tasking down to a fine art, because the 31-year-old might just pursue a PhD too.