Video Transcription
Advice For Students Finishing School!
Hey guys, how’s it going? Shay here from Student Life Australia, and in today’s video, I’m going to share with you the tips, advice, and things I would have told myself one year ago—my 18-year-old self who was leaving school, finishing the HSC, and hoping to go to university in a couple of months’ time. What would I have told him? Let’s see.
Alright, number one: I would have told myself back then not to stress about picking the right degree first up. I mean, yes, it would be ideal to get everything right on the first go, but it doesn’t happen often. I chose engineering because I thought it would best fit me, what I enjoyed doing, and what I wanted to do with my life. And you know what? I was wrong. I figured that out in the first semester and swapped to something I’m much happier with—Commerce and Law. So far, I’m enjoying that much more than I was. But at 18, leaving school, I had no idea that’s how it would turn out. So, no big deal. You don’t have to get it right the first time—it’s all good.
Okay, so thing number two: I would have told myself to keep in touch with friends that you want to see outside of school. When you’re at school, you’ve got an excuse to see everyone every day. You never really have to make much effort to keep up with people, chat, or talk. But when you leave school, you should make a conscious effort to keep the people you enjoy in your life. Meet up for coffee or dinner, call them on the phone, text—whatever works. Just make the effort because school isn’t there to do it for you anymore.
Alright, tip number three: This one’s to do with university. Enroll for semester two at the same time you enroll for semester one. I didn’t do that. I got semester one sorted—I got in really early, right when enrollment opened, because it’s a tight race between everyone. But I didn’t enroll for semester two. I don’t know why. I left it too late and almost got stuck with the worst classes. Luckily, I was changing from engineering, but if I’d stayed with it, pretty much all the classes I wanted were full, and it would have been annoying. So, enroll for semester two early.
Tip number four, my final tip—and this is important because I actually did this: Do some volunteer work, work experience, or something job-related that puts you out of your comfort zone. Do something a little bit different. For me, between the HSC and university, I worked on the election for a couple of weeks, which was really awesome. I met a ton of people and even got to network with some computer engineering students out of that. It built up my confidence and skills, which eventually led to me getting a job at JB Hi-Fi.
So, whether it’s work experience, volunteer work, or something different, just go out and ask: “Do you mind if I do some work experience here?” or “I’m interested in this field and thinking of working in it one day. Would you mind if I helped out or shadowed you?” Doing something different builds your skills, helps you figure out what you want to do for a career, and adds to your resume. It’s worth it.
Alright, guys, thank you very much for watching! As always, please like, comment, and subscribe for more. As you can see, I got a new monitor and a new microphone as well—still learning how to use that, though. But that should help with the editing process and the film quality. That wraps it up for today. See you in the next video. Enjoy!
