2020 GRADUATE
Alexander Dyson
Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and Bachelor of Psychological Science

Through an extraordinary journey, Alexander Dyson has strived to reach beyond the limits imposed by a disability, and now has a qualification that enables him to help others overcome their disabilities.

Alexander was clinically diagnosed with ADHD/Autism in his youth, which severely compromised his school education, yet he has still been able to complete a double degree in Business Marketing and Psychology at Flinders University.

It wasn’t an easy path, but he had the necessary support to make it through – and has learned much about himself and grown as a person in the process.

“I needed to complete the Flinders University Foundations Program because I was a Year 9 high school dropout. It helped me understand and comprehend academia,” remembers Alexander. “Success comes after trying and multiple failures – but I wasn’t setting out to fail at Flinders.”

He endured further personal difficulties while studying, but found solace on campus through the Students Association, and especially the Oasis Centre, where he made many international friends.

Alexander went on to enjoy many highlights during his studies, being selected for the BGL consultative committee, voted in as Sponsorship Director for the Psychology Students Association, being a mentor and tutor to his peers, and receiving an invitation to study Business Honours.

Applying his university research into creating a business start-up, Alexander is now providing support and counselling to others through his own business which is working with special populations. He plans to continue studying a postgraduate psychology program, with the eventual aim of being able to open a second private practice in another state.

“I vowed to myself that my disability would not hold me back, and that instead I would go forward and seize every opportunity,” he says.

Find out more on the Flinders Foundation Studies pathway that Alexander completed, and the student support available through Flinders University Student Association (FUSA) and Oasis.