I never went to university after high school, electing to instead enlist in the Royal Australian Navy. So in 2016, after a few different career paths, I decided to undertake study at Federation University in Ballarat as a mature-aged student. I had no idea how much this new journey would challenge me, and how much I would gain from it. It truly changed my life.
Graduating with my first degree at 38
I hurt my back and struggled to sit during lectures, having to hold off on study midway through 2018 to have surgery. In this time my son left the family at 13 to move across to WA with his mother, only to return this year in the middle of the first Victorian COVID-19 lockdown in May. I’ve had plenty of personal challenges along the way, which I can’t even begin to describe. But at the same time, I took on the challenge of riding my bicycle from Melbourne to Adelaide for a charity, changed my lifestyle and diet and outlook, shifted priorities and supported my partner and daughter through their own lives. I got more involved in the community. I took more time to do things slowly.
Looking back on the past five years, and the hurdles that life has thrown up along the way, I am incredibly proud to have just been awarded the Bachelor of Business in Marketing and Human Resource Management on 7 December. What’s more, having my children see me doing this, at 38, is just the icing on the cake!
If you’re over 30 and thinking of undertaking further study, whether for the first time or returning to it, I say to you: just do it. 100%. You can’t go wrong with more knowledge, more learning.
Especially the things you learn about yourself.
