Bond Gymnast nails a difficult routine

If Hollie-Kate Melia were a t-shirt designer, hers might say ‘train, study, graduate, compete – repeat’. 

The 24-year-old's jam-packed sporting and academic schedule leaves her with precious little spare time, but she will take pause next week to celebrate her second major milestone of the year as a Bond University graduate.

The completion of her double degree in Law and Business comes hot on the heels of her greatest sporting achievement when she represented Australia at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships in Portugal in April. 

Although the Aussies were left unsatisfied with their fifth placing, a chance to train with Hungarian national team and coaches, who are the benchmark in her chosen sport, has her geared up for the Australian Championships on the Gold Coast next month.

But first she has to throw her cap in the air and say farewell to her undergrad studies.

However, the four-and-a-bit-year juggle of study and rigorous training, which included a gruelling commute to Brisbane five times a week, isn’t over.

She’s already begun the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice that will allow her to practise law.  

“The M1 is a great friend of mine unfortunately,” Hollie-Kate said.  

 “It (graduating) feels a bit anticlimactic to be honest. I finished my degree on one random Thursday, walked out of my exam and was just like, ‘OK, this is cool’.

“Then I had three weeks off to do nothing, and I have never had that before.  

“I have now started studying again and hopefully I get admitted in January or February next year.”

Melia relishes the hard work it takes to achieve her goals, but she’s grateful for all the help she gets along the way. 

Bond Elite Sport Program (BESP) manager Hayley Martin has helped Melia navigate all the class and assignment scheduling dramas the short-notice competition calendar can create.  

“It was really scary to think about moving away from home, but it is the best thing I could’ve done,” she said.

“Coming to Bond has made me so many connections with friends, lecturers, and staff members, some who I don’t know where I would be without them. 

“It has been hard balancing uni and sport but the team that Bond has in sport, and especially Hayley, makes it possible. You can literally do anything.”

Outside of sport this new grad has her sights set on a career in family law and she hopes to leverage her legal expertise to continue seeing as much of the world as possible.

 Having already lived in Cyprus, Ireland, England, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Africa and Australia, she embraces adding more countries to that list thanks to gymnastics and now her law career.  

 “I want to go into family law and see where it takes me,” she said.  

“It’s the law that travels best because it is more dispute resolution than actual law.  

“I think it will hopefully be what takes me where I want to go.” 

Alongside her academic pursuits, Hollie-Kate’s aerobic gymnastics career remains a top priority. 

She is focused on preparing for both her team and individual routines at the national championships with the hope of securing another Australian tracksuit for the next World Championships in Italy – the pinnacle for all sports that are not on the Olympic roster.