STEM

15 quick STEM career challenges tick off these school holidays:

The following has been written by the amazing Cassie Steele at Careers with STEM. There are loads of quick, easy and fun things you can do for your career these school holidays. Yep, even in lockdown. Here, we list 16 fun, simple and quick STEM-related activities that you can totally squeeze in between Netflix marathons and never-ending TikToks!

1.Hang out with bugs

Citizen science apps like the following are awesome ways to participate in legit science research projects.

FrogID: https://bit.ly/3Aacn2d

Wild Pollinator Count: https://bit.ly/3huWtsf

iNaturalist: www.inaturalist.org

Take pics, make detailed observations and submit info through an app – which helps real-life scientists collect quality data. Although not paid, they’re a great way to gain experience in the practical aspects of environmental science.

Definitely something to pop on your resume – under hobbies/interests/extra-curricular stuff.

2. Sort out your CV

As if you want to be sorting out your CV with 2,563 assignments on your mind. The school holidays are a perfect time to make sure you have an up-to-date resume ready to go because you never know when a part-time gig or work experience role may come up.

Take our quiz to see if yours is up to scratch! https://bit.ly/2XkuOmg

3.Watch a webinar

Feeling like a chill day? After you’ve binged every episode of [insert that show you love] ever, whacking on a quick 30-minute careers webinar basically gives you permission to watch another season… or 10.

Our On-Demand YouTube channel has loads of fun, FREE virtual info sessions where STEM professionals chat candidly about how they landed their awesome roles, https://bit.ly/35Bo3yD

4.Follow STEM accounts on TikTok

You’re on TikTok anyway, right? So it can’t hurt to give a couple of STEM accounts a follow while you’re at it, https://bit.ly/3tS2gNz

Hit up anything tagged #tiktokscience and consider it homework.

Don’t forget to follow us too! www.tiktok.com/@careerswithstem

5.Flick through one of our eMags

If you’ve got time to kill, our eMags are a fun way to fill up on career inspo without all the usual snoozy, same-same stuff. Meet diverse grads with seriously unexpected study pathways http://bit.ly/39SxV6r

6.Have a think about grad gigs

Post-uni days might feel like a lifetime away, but if you’re still in high school getting clued up on what’s available after you graduate could help you start planning. So many cool next-gen STEM opportunities in some really awesome companies https://bit.ly/3k6TiZq

7.Find your STEM + X

Know what your favourite STEM subject is, but can’t quite work out how to combine it with your passion? Take five minutes to figure it out, https://bit.ly/3yjaQ9z

8.Sign up for our eNewsletters

Click, and you’re done. It’ll take two seconds to subscribe to our eNewsletters but you’ll be the first to know about important Uni/VET info, virtual open days and important industry news as it comes up https://bit.ly/2VFYCcR

9.Download a STEM poster

By blu-tacking something educational to your wall, you’re essentially soaking up info subconsciously, right? We keep telling ourselves that as we glance around at our STEM posters. Download a bunch for free https://bit.ly/3ntB1r9

10.Watch a STEM-related movie

Yep, there are loads of films on Netflix that can teach you a thing or 10 about a career in STEM. Hidden Figures, The Martian or Interstellar anyone? Check out these 6 PG films that are entertaining and educational https://bit.ly/393A40z

11.Stalk some careers

Keen to track down a bunch of young people that’ve studied the STEM courses you’re looking at? Apart from stalking them on socials, you could read up on their pathways https://bit.ly/3932rfa

12.Look into tertiary study options!

It’s not just people’s careers you could stalk these holidays – snooping tertiary courses would be a seriously productive way to spend an afternoon. There are loads of ways to land STEM qualifications.

Use the Greater Shepparton Careers website to search for courses – www.gssccareers.com

Don’t forget VET and non-uni pathways! https://bit.ly/3zkX8Tf

13.Play Monopoly – and use maths to win

According to mathematician Lily Serna there are mathematically proven strategies you can adopt that’ve been shown to increase your chances of taking out a game of Monopoly. Read her tips and host an epic round with the fam https://bit.ly/3EjlIY3

14.Download a STEM-themed podcast

Treat your ears to a career-boosting poddy! STEM podcasts are a thing, and we’ve trialed a couple https://bit.ly/3tJ3Z7x

15.Reach out to a mentor

Bagging an inspiring mentor is such a great way to expose yourself to all the different aspects of a role in STEM! Fill up your socials with the accounts of professionals owning their fields. Sifting through our followers list is a good place to start! https://twitter.com/CareerswithSTEM

Year 12 Tertiary Dates:

September – October

Key dates for VTAC

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) processes course applications on behalf of Victorian tertiary institutions www.vtac.edu.au/

Applications

Timely applications close for VTAC on Thursday 30 September. You can apply for up to 8 courses. Applications after this date will incur a higher application fee.

Special Consideration

Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) applications close by Friday 8 October www.vtac.edu.au/access/seas.html

Scholarships

Scholarship applications close by 8 October www.vtac.edu.au/access/scholarships.html

Courses – early closing dates

The following courses must be added to your VTAC preference list by Thursday 30 September. Students will be unable to remove these courses and re-add them after this date.

Monash University - All undergraduate medicine courses
The University of Melbourne - All undergraduate Fine Arts courses, Music
Charles Sturt University - Oral Health (Therapy & Hygiene), Holmesglen campus, Physiotherapy, Albury-Wodonga campus

Key Dates for UAC

The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) processes course applications on behalf of NSW and Canberra based tertiary institutions www.uac.edu.au

Course applications

Timely applications close for UAC on Thursday 30 September. You can apply for up to 5 courses. These can be changed later by certain dates, but some courses must be applied for by this date.

Special Consideration

Educational Access Scheme (EAS) applications close 28 November, https://bit.ly/3cok1tY

Scholarships

Equity Scholarship applications close for December Round 2 on 9 December,

https://bit.ly/3bAjxzT

Private colleges and TAFE institutes

You will need to apply directly to some institutes. Each relevant private college and TAFE will set their own application dates.

Early admission programs

The following are closing dates for several early admission programs.

September:

17	University of New England – Early Entry
17	La Trobe University – Aspire
19	Schools Recommendation Scheme (Multiple NSW & Canberra institutes)
24	Australian Catholic University - ACU Guarantee (competitive courses)
30	Deakin University – Regional Access Scheme

October:

8

Victoria University – VU Guaranteed

University of Melbourne – Access Melbourne

RMIT University – SNAP

Monash University – Monash Guarantee

Australian Catholic University - ACU Guarantee

Students applying for Nursing/Midwifery Courses

Year 12 students applying for nursing or midwifery courses should be mindful of the following entry requirements:

VTAC

Applicants applying for nursing or midwifery courses via the Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre (VTAC) will need to complete the ‘Nursing and Midwifery Declaration Form’ within their VTAC account.

Victoria University

Bachelor of Nursing applicants will need to register for and sit the CASPer test. Note – applicants who are also applying for Initial Teacher Education courses will need to pay and sit for two separate CASPer tests https://takealtus.com/welcome_to_takealtus/

UAC

Applicants applying for nursing or midwifery courses via the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) will need to complete an ‘English Proficiency Declaration’ within their UAC account.

Applying for undergraduate teaching courses

Victoria

To be eligible to apply for undergraduate teacher education courses, applicants will need to register for and sit the CASPer test.

Applicants will need to organise this as soon as possible and select the universities they would like their results to be sent to, https://takealtus.com/welcome_to_takealtus

NSW

To be eligible to apply for undergraduate teacher education courses at several universities, applicants will need to complete the teaching questionnaire within their UAC account https://bit.ly/3iyDcnY

Literacy and Numeracy Requirements

Students will need to register for and pass the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students during their teaching degree https://bit.ly/2wzDXYg

Upcoming Events

Photography Studies College

Lights, Camera, Action! Workshop

Students are invited to participate in an on-campus photography workshop. Dates are:

Monday 20 September

Friday 1 October

Information: https://bit.ly/3jv8peG

Federation University

Folio workshop

Federation University Arts Academy and the Art Gallery of Ballarat invite students to a full day folio development workshop in Ballarat.

Date: Wednesday 22 September

RSVP: https://bit.ly/38wII7a

Medicine and Dentistry

Free information webinar

National Institute of Education is running a webinar for students interested in applying for medicine and/or dentistry in the future. The webinar will cover a large range of topics and is suited to Year 10 – 12 students and families.

Date: 11 October, 7.00pm – 9.00pm

RSVP: https://bit.ly/3mOQa6i

Federation University

Virtual Mini-Hackathon – students could win a scholarship worth $3000*

Students in years 11 and 12 are invited to a mini-hackathon. Students will work in teams and learn how to apply the latest disruptive technologies to solve problems in a creative and innovative way. Students will be mentored by IBM, Federation Business School lecturers and other industry experts to come up with an innovative business idea that utilises new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technologies.

Students will pitch their ideas at the end of the day and the winning team members will each receive a $3,000 scholarship* to study the new Bachelor of Cognitive Enterprise degree in 2022 or 2023.

Thursday 23 September, 10am – 1.30pm, https://bit.ly/3AoqCk4

*Terms and conditions apply

Your GSSC Careers Team

McGuire campus - Susan Barr

Mooroopna campus – Tarsh Boyko and Mary-ann Linehan. Mary-ann is the College Partnerships leader. This is a new position that emphasises how important we feel it is to build on our excellent links with partner organisations, employers, industry and other training organisations.

Wanganui campus – Graeme Crosbie, Ruth O’Bree & Simone Masters. Graeme is the Careers Leader, Ruth is the VCAL Leader and Simone is the Diversability Leader for GSSC.

Your GSSC Careers website

www.gssccareers.com

Graeme Crosbie

Careers Leader

Greater Shepparton SC

Year 8 Science

Diseases of the Digestive System - research