If you could choose one thing to do for the rest of your life, what would it be?

You may shrug this off as a hypothetical question, but the reality is high school students these days feel pressured to have an answer before they leave school. Nobody has it all mapped out, especially in their teen years, when they haven’t had had the chance to find out what they like. But what’s more, the pressure suggests that changing your mind is the wrong thing to do, and it has many students feeling like failures for not having an ambition set in stone.

 

We’d like you to meet Jack Hoyle, a young Open Universities Australia (OUA) student whose journey has been a consistent zig-zag. For Jack, this isn’t a bad thing, and it’s taught him more than he could have learned by taking the straight, traditional path. His story proves that whatever happens in high school, you’ve still got options to get you exactly where you want to be.

 

Jack knows all too well that life can suddenly veer off course. From childhood, Jack always dreamed of being a musician. So when the opportunity to play drums in a heavy metal band came knocking, he knew he couldn’t pass it up. Jack didn’t want to be wondering what if for the rest of his life, so he dropped out of year 11 to give music his full attention. With careers in the arts, there’s always the challenge of self-funding, and the constant struggle for a decent income. There’s also a lot of pressure from naysayers to have a ‘Plan B’. Jack stuck it out for two years before he decided that working as a musician wasn’t getting him where he wanted to go financially. But because he’d given his passion a chance to live and breathe, he could make the decision to pursue university study without regret.

 

Having missed out on year 12, Jack was without an ATAR, or any previous work or study experience. But what he did have was a love of learning, and the will to work hard for a degree. Jack found his ideal solution in OUA, where all undergraduate degrees are open access- meaning that they’re open to anybody, no matter their academic background. Jack tried out a few different fields of study including politics and biotechnology, before he set his sights on the Bachelor of Behavioural Studies (Psychology), provided by Swinburne University, and accessed through OUA. He realised he had a fascination for data, and the way it can reveal patterns to help us understand why we humans behave the way we do.

 

Jack wasn’t able to walk right into the course, but he did have an option that would get him in eventually. If he passed a set of units on the basics of psychology, he’d be considered course-ready and would be admitted into the Bachelor of Behavioural Studies. So that’s what he did, and at present, Jack has almost finished these units and will soon be on his way to a full degree. Even though this was a requirement rather than a choice, Jack is glad that was the case, and would recommend the unit-by-unit mode of studying to anybody unsure of their study interests. He says that it’s a low-risk way of testing the waters, which is perfect, because so many of us are not 100% sure what we’re going to enjoy until we try it out.

 

Earlier this year, Jack’s life changed dramatically when he lost his vision. He was no longer able to work, and due to difficulty interpreting diagrams, Jack couldn’t continue with biotechnology. The switch to psychology was a result of his disability, but he’s glad that he’s still able to study something he finds stimulating. Despite the hard times he’s been through, Jack remains positive and enthusiastic about the university experience. He insists that the opportunity for learning goes beyond just academia- you’ll find yourself getting involved in activities you never even considered. Jack’s about to take off on a week-long sailing trip from Melbourne to Sydney, where he’ll work with other people with disabilities to learn how to navigate the waters.

 

Online study hasn’t always been easy, but in studying without a teacher’s physical presence, Jack has learnt some valuable life skills. Jack admits to being that 20 questions guy in high school, but because he doesn’t have that instant interaction with teachers anymore, he’s become good at planning ahead. You need to know what your questions are in advance, Jack insists, because when you’re one day away from a due date, you can’t rely on a tutor to respond to questions instantly by email. To help Jack overcome the challenges of university, particularly as a person with impaired vision, he made use of OUA’s preparatory unit ‘Preparing for Academic Writing’, which got him back into the swing of writing essays. He also continues to use OUA’s 24/7 tutoring service ‘Smarthinking’, which helps him to proofread his writing.

 

Jack doesn’t have many regrets when it comes to his education. He took a chance on something he loved and can move forward knowing that he gave it a shot. Now he’s working towards a career in another area he loves, and is excited about all the possibilities it will bring. When it comes to the ATAR system, Jack sees it as a little archaic, and not well suited to the 21st century. He firmly believes that a number doesn’t define a person, their intelligence or their capability. Jack missed out on year 12, but contrary to what many high school students believe, it didn’t have a big impact on his life, and he is still able to get the degree he wants.

 

The one piece of advice that Jack would pass onto others would be that it’s okay to change your mind. People grow and evolve, and something that feels so certain may slowly (or very suddenly) slip away. In the end, there’s always a way to get where you want to go, and if you learn to embrace an ever-shifting path, you’ll feel a whole lot lighter.

 

To find out more about Open Universities Australia visit open.edu.com

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