After working in a range of jobs including truck driving, machinery operating and forestry firefighting, Mr Schumann and his young family settled in his hometown of Horsham.

Mr Schumann decided to follow his lifelong passion for cars, taking a job and then a full-time apprenticeship with the Wilson Bolton car dealership.

After completing his studies in 2021, Tim has now taken on the role of workshop foreman.

He said taking on an apprenticeship in his 30s had its challenges, but with support from his teachers, Tim was able to share his prior knowledge and real-world experience with fellow students.

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"Being mature age gave me a chance to show that I had a fair bit of knowledge already and the teachers were really supportive in allowing me to help the others," Mr Schumann said.

"With a family, I needed to find time to study and always tried to push myself to learn more. I had a drive to really get stuck into it and that started to rub off on the class."

Graduation ceremonies will be held in Ballarat from March 16 to 24 featuring 1000 graduates, while 300 students will graduate at Berwick campus on 30 March and 200 in Gippsland on March 29.

Higher education and TAFE graduates will mark the education milestone in front of family, friends and their classmates following two years of adapting to new ways of learning during the global pandemic.

Federation University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Duncan Bentley said the graduations were a long time coming.

"It is wonderful to see graduates coming together with their family and friends to celebrate this achievement at graduation ceremonies across our campuses," he said.

"Our students are graduating with the skills employers need, along with incredible resilience built over the past two years as they adapted to new ways of learning."

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