Where are they now?

The more I do this role the more I discover the incredibly varied ways in which we go about our life-long learning and career journey. I absolutely love what I do and not surprisingly it fits well with my interests, passions and skills. But I didn’t start out with this in mind, I just landed here via a series of opportunities and decisions.

So, for all those students (and even adults) wanting a definite answer – do not panic, it’s normal to ‘not know’ what you ‘want to do’. Not convinced? Maybe start by having a conversation with your parent or guardian about whether their role now reflects what they had in mind when they were your age?

For example, I recently viewed a webinar for Cybersecurity where one speaker left school in Year 10, started in a career in baking and now leads a team behind the scenes in network and cybersecurity for a large media corporation. When asked about what university courses she needed to undertake for her pathway, she politely advised that she had not undertaken any further/tertiary study, but her pathway was built on work-based experience and a willingness to accept a variety of opportunities along the way.

I share this except from past student Brittany Kimmitt

I completed an Occupational Therapy degree in 5.5 years - not 4 years (I had little intentions of completing this due to my interest being in prevention not intervention, but persevered part time in my final 2 years).
I Backpacked through Europe and South East Asia whilst studying (this potentially kept me sane, even though I worked crazy hospitality hours to compensate!)
Moved to the city for more exposure and independence (lots of opportunities for meeting new people and exploring different pathways through voluntary work)
Volunteered with YGAP on an international campaign for 8 months
Went to India for 6 months to complete 2 internships in social entrepreneurship and innovation (the best thing I ever did; in collaboration with finding yoga and meditation)
Returned to Melbourne and was offered 2 contract positions in education innovation, recommended through previous volunteer connections; supporting community engagement and event management roles
Went back to India for 8 months to practice meditation, Ayurveda and yoga and to explore the Himalayas
Returned to Warragul and worked with Berry Street, Gippsland; coordinating a partnership with schools, community services, council and gov departments to address primary prevention in mental health, AOD use and school disengagement in young people
I am committed to my meditation practice every day and find this really helps with managing the vicissitudes of life.
My degree was imperative in teaching me the skills of resilience, persistence and different way the environment impacts on participation in life. It opened up a lot of non-typical pathway doors for me.

Brittany now runs her own meditation and mindset coaching organisation called onewholesome.space

NextGen podcast series: Pathways to Making a Global Difference in Ag (crawfordfund.org) bringing you a series on career pathways to agriculture for development. We’ll have videos, blogs and podcasts with people who have had a road to agriculture for development that doesn’t initially involve agriculture – so through anthropology, science, social sciences, finance, communication, law, environmental sciences, health and nutrition, economics and business.