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What we’re talking about:

Today I’m chatting with Nirmal, and he is finishing his degree in Commerce and Actuarial Science at Monash University. In this conversation we talk a lot about being ok with not knowing exactly where you’re going but using the information you’ve got to take the next best step in your career path. Nirmal explains how he used opportunities throughout school and after exams to explore his options and choose a pathway that felt right for him, as well as giving us an insight into his course and his first steps into his career.

Work from a place where it’s safe to fail

Nirmal has some great advice that applies not only in high school but also throughout further study and into your career and life in general. If you can be yourself and also work from a place of feeling like it’s safe to fail, then your mindset changes from every SAC or exam or decision being super stressful to everything being a lesson and something you can learn from. This means that instead of beating yourself up when things don’t go as planned, you can just learn the lesson and work out how you can do things better next time.

Using your time after exams are over to rethink your career path

Although he submitted a preference list in Term 3 of Year 12, once exams were over Nirmal really took his time to explore his options and work out what he actually wanted to do. He spoke to people he knew who were doing courses he’d been thinking about and went to a Change of Preference Expo to ask more questions, and this research helped him choose his next best step.

Pathways for students who love maths

Nirmal comes from a family of engineers and, given that he liked maths, it made sense for him to have a lot of engineering courses in his preference list. Once he had time to think about it, he realised that he really didn’t enjoy applied maths like physics, and that led to him exploring other courses including Commerce and Actuarial Science. Nirmal explains more about his course and how maths is used in these areas, and what his work looks like as he finishes his course.

Links mentioned:

My website: https://www.roadmapeducation.com

Nirmal’s course: https://www.monash.edu/study/courses/find-a-course/2022/commerce-and-actuarial-science-b2030