BROTHERS Jordan and Cameron Shaw-Carmody will double their family's pride when both are celebrated at the University of Newcastle (UON) for their mathematical aptitude.
Cameron, 23, will graduate with a Bachelor of Mathematics with Distinction and a Bachelor of Science (Physics) with Distinction on Monday, while his older brother Jordan, 26, will receive the University Medal for his Bachelor of Mathematics with First Class Honours, which he gained mid 2019.
"I've been interested in maths - just like Jordan has - from quite a young age and seeing Jordan go through and doing maths certainly made me feel that was an area I could go into as well," Cameron said.
"It's always nice to be able to have someone in the house to talk to about the subject and someone who knows what's going on with it, that's certainly provided encouragement.
"I think [Monday] will be very exciting and it's nice to be able to be there at the same ceremony as Jordan, especially since he's getting one of the highest honours you can get from a university."
More than 1000 UON students will graduate in six mid-year ceremonies held over three days at the Great Hall. Students from the Newcastle Business School; School of Creative Industries, Humanities and Social Science; and School of Education graduated in a Friday ceremony.
Three ceremonies will be held on Monday and two on Tuesday.
National Gallery of Australia director Nick Mitzevich was the occasional speaker on Friday and received an Honorary Doctorate. He studied a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Graduate Diplomas in Art Education and Fine Arts at UON and was a lecturer in art history at the School of Fine Art.
"I'm so touched," Mr Mitzevich said.
"After 30 years of reflecting I realise my time at university was so instructive for where I went for the rest of my life... I found my path, I found my passion, I met important mentors, I met eccentric and extraordinary people that helped me find my way in the world and I made lifetime friends and fell in love at uni. It was such a potent time that set me on my path.
"I may not have thought that when I graduated but with 30 years of reflection I can really see it did influence my life significantly, so to be honoured by my university is such a monumental thing for me."
His advice to aspiring artists was simple.
"Sometimes things never went to plan and things were disappointing and things were not how I saw them, but sometimes you have to undo things and redo them... trust your intuition and enjoy it and if you can't enjoy it don't suffer it, make changes, be flexible, don't be stuck to a certain plan and don't be scared of finding a different way and a different path... be open to what the possibilities are."
Jordan said he was glad he opted to wait to receive his medal and that it would coincide with Cameron's graduation.
"I wanted to have the medal when I'd actually be able to go up on stage rather that the previous [ceremonies] that did happen with COVID, when you just had to stand up, everyone clapped and then you sat back down, you weren't up on stage, you didn't get to shake anyone's hand," he said.
"Also it meant that I would be limited to only two people, so I would have had to chose two out of the family."
Jordan said the brothers liked to help others.
He has been - and Cameron currently is - the coordinator of a free maths clinic at UON where students can receive help with their maths courses.
"With maths there's rules and as long as you follow those rules then you'll get the answer, or you'll be able to find a solution - it means that everything is a bit more concrete," Jordan said.
"Maths is an extension of logical thinking and for a lot of mathematics it's very much problem solving and basically looking at different puzzles and finding logical ways to solve them," Cameron said. "That's why I've always found it interesting."
Cameron is completing his Honours in Mathematics with a focus on prime numbers, while Jordan is completing his PhD in Mathematics, on the finite element method.
Their mum Janice Shaw said her sons' talents had been a surprise: she is an English literature lecturer and their father Paul Carmody a businessman.
"I'm very very proud of them both, I find it hard to explain how proud I am," she said.
"Seeing them both up on stage will be really the culmination of a long process of collaboration and help they've [given each other] through their whole childhood and school... there's a great many whiteboards covered in x's and y's around our house at any given time."
