Rozaine Cooray

I chose Deakin because...
I wanted a university that was based in Melbourne and I had heard many good things about Deakin. Deakin was also popular at the time for psychology and well regarded for its research and team of academics. I wanted a university that would give me a strong foundation for my career.

After leaving uni...
I returned to my homeland of Sri Lanka to pursue my career in the psychology field. I did two internship programs – one in the clinical field and another in the organisational field. I also realised around this time that I wanted to work with people seeking to achieve higher growth goals everyday – people who set higher standards for themselves to become better in their personal, work and social lives. So I enrolled to study my graduate diploma and then a master's in occupational psychology in London, where I carried out research into the effectiveness of self-awareness of job satisfaction and progression and the psychometrics of predicting job performance.

I then joined a renowned apparel company in Sri Lanka soon afterwards, where I worked mainly in executive assessment and recruitment and was also involved in writing a book entitled, Beyond the Gold. I then embarked on a career change to become a freelance leadership coach for young people and work counsellor in Abu Dhabi before setting up Forte – a consultancy for people development that offers customised solutions in HR and organisational psychology.

I am a lecturer at Missouri University of Science and Technology and have also guest lectured at various other institutions, including the Post Graduate Institute of Management in Colombo and Dubai, Taylor's University Malaysia, University of Colombo and at the Institute of Personal Management (Colombo).

I also write for the Business Times (Sunday Times) on contemporary issues in the workplace and have published a novel entitled, Colours of the Sun, which was short listed for the Gratiaen Prize and State Literary Awards in 2010.

I am currently...
Apart from my consultancy and journalism work, as a voluntary project, I am in the process of designing art, drama and dance therapy sessions that can be carried out in the North and East of the country, with people who have been directly affected by war. I am also writing my second novel.

In my profession it is important...
To develop and implement core work values such as integrity, authenticity, consciousness, and perseverance to help foster development and growth in myself, other individuals, companies or the wider community.

Professionally, my proudest achievement is… 
Developing my consultancy firm Forte and the successes of the students I have taught. It is always rewarding when my students do well and then in turn, their achievements become a great source of encouragement, inspiration and motivation.

The single-most important issue in the world is…
Respect for others and our environment. I believe affording people due respect makes a great a difference in accepting people for who they are, for where they come from, for what they do and for what they believe in.

In the future I would like to… 
Continue working in my field and further develop my consultancy firm and teaching. I would also like to do my PhD and contribute further to the field of psychology in the form of research.

I also want to continue my writing and hopefully one day to diversify into making documentaries and script writing for movies.

The best things I would recommend about Deakin are…
The team of lecturers and support staff there. They were always very helpful to me and this made a huge difference in my study experience as an international student.