New law graduate's special family bond

Her father was an original ‘Bondy’, among the first students to set foot on Bond University’s brand new campus in 1989.

Now, 32 years later, Emma-Rose Senior has also graduated from Bond, and she’s followed in her father’s footsteps in more ways than one.

On Thursday, Ms Senior received her Bachelor of Journalism/Bachelor of Laws with first class honours, an extra-poignant moment for her father Geoffrey, who also studied law when he attended Bond in 1991.

“My dad was always telling me about his time at Bond,” Ms Senior said.

“He would always tell me about his fond memories, some of his exploits and how helpful the teachers and the community were.

“I always wanted to go to Bond.”

The 22-year-old travelled the world with Bond, representing the university in an international moot competition at The Hague in the Netherlands.

“That was an incredible opportunity, I learned so much from that experience,” she said.

“We finished in the top 12 in the world, it was an amazing thing to do.

“I loved mooting, it was my favourite part of law. We got to moot in front of the Honorable Michael Kirby, Justice of the High Court of Australia as well, which was incredible.”

All going to plan, the High Court will feature prominently in Ms Senior’s future, as she hopes to pursue a career in criminal law.

“I want to go into criminal law. I want to create a successful career there. Hopefully work my way up to be a barrister.”

Ms Senior’s father – who is the director of Senior Legal in Southport – shed a tear as he watched his daughter graduate on Thursday.

“My dad shed a little tear when I graduated high school, he was very proud of me,” she said.

“Now to see me graduate with a double degree at Bond, the same university he went to, he was a bit emotional.”