Celebrating Careers
Education Week
The theme of Education Week 2019 is celebrating careers. Just weeks after Year 10 students had their Work Experience week, it's been an opportunity to showcase the career pathways of some former students. Here a few former students share their professional life following school and offer some advice about education and work choices.
Caitlyn Hoggart
After leaving Mentone Girls’ Secondary College in 2005 I studied a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Monash University. I did a major in Geoscience (Geology) and a minor in Conversation Biology. I then went on to do honours in Geoscience on the topic of gold mining geochemistry. Just before my honours year the Global Financial Crisis hit the world and the resource industry was hit hard – there were a lot of people being laid off and not many being hired. I was lucky, I was one of three people in my Honours year (approximately 30) to be offered a job before graduating. As the world recovered many others found jobs within the following year. I applied for and was offered a job as a graduate geoscientist at ExxonMobil – one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. I’ve been there working my way through the ranks for nearly 10 years. I’ve worked in many parts of the organisation – frontier exploration, development phases and production (the actual extraction of oil and gas from more than 2km underground). I work closely with other geoscientists and all types of engineers. Both of these roles have been traditionally male dominated and it is quite often that I am the only female in a team of more than 10 people. My role at ExxonMobil involves using my geological understanding of the world to extract oil and gas that is used every day for cooking, heating and transport etc. I need to be creative and also business savvy working in the corporate world. I need to be constantly coming up with diverse problem solving solutions to make sure that oil and gas extraction is maximized.
I love rocks, always have. I remember learning about plate tectonics on a family holiday when I was 13 years old and it had me hooked. When I turned up to enrolment day at university they asked me what subjects I’d like to do, I said “any subjects that are to do with rocks!”.
I chose a Bachelor of Environmental Science degree over a straight science degree because I felt it gave me an edge, more of an expertise. The Environmental Science degree also required a higher VCE score than Science so there weren’t as many students taking the course, about 40, contrasting with more than 800 in Science – although many subjects were common between the two degrees.
Up until the night before the VTAC applications closed I actually had Environmental Engineering set as my first preference, I felt it wasn’t quite right and at the last minute I changed it.
In the end it was the right choice for me because of my love of rocks and science and the fact that I got a really cool and challenging job out if it was great. A conventional science degree with a geoscience major would have also got me to the same place, but would have been much less interesting.
Advice to my younger self – hard work pays off a lot more than natural talent and don’t worry if you are the only female in the room, embrace it and be empowered by it.
Advice to everyone – remember to do something you have a passion for because in the end it’s up to you to get out of bed each morning and go to work. Your parents aren’t always going to be around encouraging and nagging.
Caitlyn will be visiting MGSC this week to speak with students about STEAM careers and pathways.
Caroline Morgan
A student at MGSC until 1997, Caroline Morgan is the Director of Product Research and Consumer Insights for Netflix and based at their Los Gatos California, HQ. She recently shared her story in the alumni magazine of Bond University which she attended from 1998 to 2001 after winning a scholarship.
“I remember a teacher walked me over to a notice board and showed me a flyer requesting applicants for Bond University scholarships. I didn’t have internet at home and the two computers in the school library were on dial-up and completely booked up, so the glossy picture of the Bond University campus and a Queensland address were really the only information I had to go on.”
IT and computer access has changed since then! Caroline tells more about her time at Bond University and her professional life since in the alumni magazine ARCH 2019 Semester 1.
https://issuu.com/bonduniversity/docs/arch_2019_-_semester_1_web_res_fina
We are delighted that Caroline will be in Melbourne mid year and will be visiting MGSC to speak at a College Assembly.
Imogen McLean
My name is Imogen McLean and this is my story. I finished high school in 2012 and went onto study Nursing, graduating in 2017. It wasn’t smooth sailing for me as I struggled academically. Faced with real life nursing; my terminally ill Aunt came to live with us and midway through my Year 12 she died. Another low point was my ATAR as it was less than 50! From the start I believe the positive choices I made in my early years at MGSC were beneficial. I had active roles participating in SRC and becoming SRC president in Year 12. Another early commitment was my World Challenge involvement, and outside of school I did community service in soup kitchens which sometimes took priority over studying, I also had regular part time work. But I don’t regret a thing.
With a low ATAR, my University application however, did highlight a very involved person and one who cared - I believe I managed to gain entry into ACU Nursing because of these things. My tertiary place was no fix for my skills of study. My degree for which I am very proud, took five long years to complete instead of three! I worked part-time still at Woolies and nannying. I’ve had time to work interstate; I’ve travelled overseas and met people who have helped change the way I see life, all of which you can’t learn from schooling and textbooks. I worked my graduate year with Monash Health in the Haemodialysis and Haemotology wards. I recently moved to the Northern Territory to Alice Springs Hospital where my love for indigenous culture is. For me, working with our indigenous culture has been a long time dream, and here I am! Anatomy is still something I find challenging but I do tend to look at my strengths and think to myself, we don’t have to be perfect in all things and that’s why we work as a team.
Life’s challenging, it’s not meant to be easy. People will tell you this, really it’s got to be you, you have to work out what you want and have a passion for it. I know I lost my way a few times, and that’s why it took me so long. Life is mysterious and things change. I do encourage you to follow your heart. Your ATAR doesn’t make who you are, it’s just a number that helps give you a chance at becoming what you want to be.
No regrets. It’s important to ask yourself this: “Would I regret this if I were to look back”. I find this is good to ask in helping my decision making. I’ve seen patients my age extremely sick and I think how blessed I am to be well and helping them in a time when they’re so vulnerable; yet their gift in return is showing me that life is unpredictable. Do what’s right for you at the time. I’ll leave you with a quote from Wilma Rudolph - ‘Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion; the potential for greatness lives within each of us.’
Lucy McPhate
My name is Lucy McPhate and I am a proud graduate of MGSC Class of 2009.
After Year 12 I completed the Bachelor of Physiotherapy (with Honours) at Monash University. I also completed an Honours year as part of the course which ignited my love for research - I was lucky enough to publish four papers in peer reviewed journals in the area of falls prevention. I loved physiotherapy but also had originally applied for medicine and wanted to know what it would be like. I was lucky enough to receive an offer to study the Doctor of Medicine at the University of Melbourne which I did while I worked as a physio on the weekends.
I am now in my second year of working as a doctor at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. This year I have started my first year of Basic Physician (medical specialist) training.
In summary MGSC provided me with an excellent high school experience. I learnt to work independently, to work hard and to have a wide range of interests. Most importantly, MGSC instilled in me pride and confidence in being a female professional - something I realise now is especially important for a career in medicine.
Stephanie Duggan
I graduated from MGSC at the end of 2013. Straight after high school I got accepted into my first preference at RMIT which was a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering / Industrial Design. It became very evident in my first semester at university that Industrial Design was not a passion of mine and that I felt that Business or Commerce would be more suited to me. In 2015 I made the move to Monash and continued in my degree in Mechanical Engineering and Commerce (Finance).
What inspired me to work in this field is my desire and motivation to make this world a better place. I love understanding why and how the world works and find my degree really rewarding. Mechanical Engineering is such a broad degree, and it excites me that I will be working on a variety of different projects throughout my lifetime. Mechanical Engineers use their knowledge to design, create and improve moving objects. My choice to work in this field was after doing the Morrisby test, which is a three hour aptitude and personality test which gives you an idea about what careers may suit you. The first five professions was engineering related – so it was a no brainer for me.
I am currently working as a Quality Engineer Intern at Agilent Technologies, working as the Lead Engagement Officer for the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Monash and volunteering as the Outreach Leader for Precious Plastics Monash. In my time at Monash I also volunteered for three years on the Monash Engineering Student Society. As a quality engineer I subject instruments to harsh environmental conditions to ensure that Agilent products can continue to meet high performance specifications around the world. As an engagement officer I run workshops designed to promote engineering. Being part of the Precious Plastics Team, I am to work in an area that I am passionate about and help the war on waste. There will be more plastic in our oceans by 2050 than fish which is extremely scary! Precious Plastics is a movement around the world which hope to change people’s view on plastic waste. Plastic waste is a precious commodity which we can use and reinvent to create new exciting products.
Why Engineering? If you love maths and science, constantly question how things work, and love to create and design I would highly recommend that you studying engineering. Engineering gives you a true appreciation of the world around you and immerses you in new exciting technology. It’s a career which will allow you to travel with work but also allow you to work in Melbourne.
What advice would you give your younger self? Don’t pick your preferences based on ATAR score and don’t rule out any university if you haven’t been there. I would also tell myself not to be as upset as I was when receiving my ATAR. Your ATAR is important for such a small amount of time, and no matter what you goal or careers is there are so many different pathways to get there.
Jamie Bolger
I graduated at the end of 2017 from RMIT with a degree in Media and Communication which included a three year placement as a TV trainee at the ABC. I worked with a few different shows like The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, a researcher with Gardening Australia and a content maker for one of the kids shows. I was actually on my last day at the ABCV when I was offered a full time job as a producer at ABCME (the kids channel) which is essentially my dream job! As a TV producer I research, write, direct and produce content.