WEEK 1/ The beginning of the end…

Today is pretty exciting; it’s the first day of my last year at university. Just five subjects stand between me, and the eligibility to graduate.

Current mood:

I’m excited for this semester and feeling motivated as ever (even a little sad that I won’t be at Magill for much longer).

Juggling work and study has been an incredibly positive experience over the past few years, allowing me to develop transferrable skills, and confirming my hopes that a career in PR and communications is most definitely for me.

My first, and only, sojourn into industry related volunteering was just over a year ago at the Santos Tour Down Under. I’m a strong believer in the concept that you are first paid in experience, and later with a pay check, and I also believe there’s a correlation between willingness to put in the hard yards, and longer-term rewards. I was stoked to be involved and get my first taste of what a media centre is really like, and it was this experience that set me on the path to becoming a PR consultant. Twelve months later and I have some amazing experience under my belt, and a thirst for knowledge. The opportunities and challenges I’ve experienced in the past year have provided me with lessons that I can’t wait to apply in my final coursework.

WEEK 2/ To share or not to share?

This week we discussed the impact that sharing online via social media can have on our career prospects. While I’ve never been a big ‘sharer’, I’ve really clamped down on my social media privacy settings in the past few years.

I’ve always joked that I wouldn’t put anything on Facebook that I wouldn’t be happy with being on the front page of the Tiser – and I now feel that this is more relevant than ever. Adelaide (or Australia, really) is way too small.

A friend of mine recently went through the old ‘my colleague added me on Facebook’ conundrum, which is where Timeline Review comes into play. This feature allows a user to approve or decline any mentions before they appear on their newsfeed. I guess with privacy settings like this there really is no excuse to be caught out.

This argument is so done, but it’s incredible how many people still don’t censor themselves online, or at least adjust their privacy settings, giving potential employers open slather access to their drunken wine tour posts (everyone’s done it, but it’s still not a good look), expletive laden ramblings, or offensive opinions.

I’ve been keen to start blogging for quite some time now, to the point where I have a few blogs written and ready to go, but something always stops me from taking that next step and publishing anything.

This is partially because, up until this point, writing for someone other than my university tutors is scary, but mostly because it’s the equivalent of having a major uncensored vent to someone, except that it’s publicly documented and can never be retracted. It seems so final. Although I’m a levelheaded person, and I do have a filter, it’s still daunting that I could be judged by my social media footprint. More so since I’ve been a social media user since I was 12..

Hearing about past students’ antics in this week’s tutorial was a timely reminder that online activity cannot be erased, and can be someone’s undoing. One day when I take the leap of faith and publish my first (non-uni related) blog, I’ll be sure to keep them in mind.

WEEK 3/ “Inspiration is everywhere & often in unexpected places: you just have to keep your eyes open”

In brainstorming ideas for my presentation this week, I was completely stumped. Of course people inspire me in my life but until now I hadn’t thought about career inspirations.

After much thought, I realised that my colleagues from a recent client project had all inspired me in my career. While it’s natural to think of someone notable, or perhaps famous, sometimes the most influential people are those closest to us.

While these colleagues were all seconded from other organisations and business streams, I learnt so much during my time working alongside them and felt constantly motivated by the team’s collective positive attitude and desire to succeed.

TEACHING BREAK/ “It’s not a holiday – it’s a teaching break”

As I begin the teaching break (with a blissful sleep in), I’m reflecting on the craziness of the past few months. While the nature of university is that study time outside of contact hours is a necessity, I didn’t quite expect to have such an overflow from my work too. The lines between work and study have blurred recently, and I’m going to make a conscious effort this break to get ahead with my coursework. I’m also realising the importance of balance; while study and work are my priority, ‘down time’ is also crucial to refresh my mind, and so my friends don’t disown me completely. I think everyone can relate to this feeling at one point or another…

In saying that, it’s also important to know my limitations and not overcommit. I’m really enjoying what I do, and hence want to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that springs up, but I have such a short time left at university that I want to recommit now and soak it up while it lasts. I’ll be in my career a long time so I need to make the most of it.

WEEK 8/ University grades versus industry experience – why not have both?

This week’s guest lecturer, a recent PR degree grad, mentioned that she wasn’t a good university student (subsequently apologizing to the course director) as she didn’t feel that grades were going to get her over the line when it came to the job hunt. Instead, she went in search of industry experience and worked throughout her degree.

I’d never thought of the trade-off of academic success and industry experience before, but this made me consider my own path, which I’ve now been on for nearly 2.5 years. I’ve worked throughout my entire degree, firstly in my ‘uni job’ at David Jones – developing transferable skills and experience that no doubt set me up for future employment – and also through working at a public relations agency, a journey that began halfway through my second year at university and has undoubtedly been the biggest learning experience in my life.

This hasn’t come without another set of challenges. Having friends who have not yet embarked on the world of full-time work, who still message at 1am on a Wednesday morning without realising that I’m three hours into my REM cycle, has been tough. It’s hard not to suffer from FOMO (a fear of missing out, that is) from time to time, but Winter, being the devil that it is, has somewhat evened the playing field lately..

But never have I ever felt any connection to the concept of ‘P’s get degrees!’ that so many of my friends and fellow students may have. Now I can’t say wholeheartedly that I’ve always given my coursework my undivided attention (actually, I rarely have) but I do always strive for the best grade given the circumstances. If it’s a quiet week with work, I’ll try to get ahead of the curve. If it’s busy, I’ll pull the all-nighter, working to the deadline or until my work is of reasonable quality. I’d like to think I’ve never thrown in the towel and said ‘that’ll do,’ because that would only be cheating myself.

In reflecting, I don’t feel like my studies or work have triumphed over one another. I love the high of getting a High Distinction for an assessment piece after pouring over it for weeks, days, hours, minutes until the deadline and there aren’t many better feelings than self accomplishment (not even shopper’s high!). My philosophy has always been that I cannot go back and re-do this degree. Once my results are in, the transcript is final. I don’t want to think back in 5 years time, ‘I wish I’d tried harder’. While I do believe I could have achieved higher marks if I was solely dedicated to my study, I’ve also had the benefit of seeing my studies come to life in the workplace, which counteracts the fact that study has never been my focus.

WEEK 12/ It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later!

Although I’ve well and truly hit the word limit on this journal, I felt that it warranted a wrap up before I bid it farewell.

I’ve been counting down the days until mid-semester break, when I’ll only have one subject left for my degree. As exciting as it is to see the days disappear, it’s also scary as I have a lot of work to complete before I can relax and say I’ve done my best.

One of the things I will take from my studies here at UniSA is that ‘failure is the best teacher.’ A guest speaker earlier this semester mentioned this, and it spurred memories where I have done badly and gone on to accomplish more than I’d ever imagined. This happened as recently as a few weeks ago when my Communication, Culture and Indigenous Australians tutor emailed me asking that I rewrite my essay. Obviously I was quite concerned at first, and not keen to spend anymore time on the assignment. After talking through my essay, I took the opportunity to absorb the comments and realised that my essay did not accurately portray my arguments. You can imagine my surprise when I received my mark the following week and it was a High Distinction. Ecstatic would be an understatement; had I never been asked to rewrite the essay, I would never have felt the elation of getting a HD in a subject I was only enrolled in as it’s compulsory for my degree.

I’m ready for life after university and to tick my undergrad days off the list, but I wouldn’t be ready without the guidance I’ve had over the years, the people I’ve met, the laughs I’ve had, and the industry knowledge I’ve gained.

1,760 coffees, 880 days, almost 108 units of study, 43 all-nighters, a dozen epiphanies, 4 library demerit points, 0 parking fines (very proud of that effort) and a handful of lifelong friends later.. it’s been real, UniSA!