For the Young Ones

From a fan (OK...from someone that saw me on TV): "i saw u on Natural Born Monsters and had a couple of questions on what degree in college would benefit in getting a job like yours".

Yes it is true: A uni degree or college degree IS the key to unlocking the door to CHOICE and choice is a powerful weapon for a young person to wield as they move along that dank, shadowy, fog laden pathway we call a Career.

To answer question posed, I did a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Zoology and Geography (GIS/Environmental Science). My heart was in the Zoology and Geography was more of an insurance policy to broaden my career opportunities post graduation. Sensible.....huh?

I actually went to University as a mature age student as I failed to achieve a high enough score in my Tertiary Entrance Exam to get into Uni!!! Please don't tell my children as it will shatter their wee perception of their Super Dad; I was a little bit of a misfit at High School.

Prepared to plunge myself into poverty for a "Piece of Paper", I had to give up full time work to go to Uni. Thus, I only intended to do the mandatory and minimum three year undergraduate degree in Zoology. But I loved it so much that I sucked the life out of university, rather than letting it suck the life out of me. 

I twisted, turned and manipulated my degree to suit myself. For example, Herpetology was run as a third year unit every second year and I just happened to commence Uni on the wrong year. So, not content to accept that I would miss out, I kicked and screamed like a child at the feet of the Head of Department until he conceded to let me into this third year unit even though I was only in my second year. I also crammed my second Major into the timetable of my primary Major so I could get the whole thing smashed out in three years instead of four. I graduated the double major within three years with a Distinction average proving you don't need to be no Rhode Scholar to do well, but you do need to love what you are doing.

I wanted more out of Uni than to just sit in lecture theaters or dissect toads. In my first year, I had heard that someone was doing research on my most favorite animal in the world: the Western Tiger Snake. As I was quite adept at handling venomous snakes I volunteered my services and from those weeks spent with French research scientists playing with Tigers I concocted the crazy plan to do my Honours research project in France. In Australia, Honours is all about learning how to do research and in the field of zoology there is a strong field/lab component to the research year. So I decided my field survey site was going to be Central Western France and the European Viper was going to be my study species. So off I went to France. Too easy (it actually wasn't but it was worth the pain).

The Honours project was awarded a First Class which, in Australia, is the Golden Ticket to getting an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship. This was the ultimate prize as it was the 'artistic licence' enabled me to develop my own PhD project: the project I wanted to do!!!! 

I commenced my PhD in March 2001 and delivered the Final for assessment in March 2004. The Thesis, which employed ecophysiological techniques (renal, hormonal, behavioural, and physiological) to investigate how reptiles (Western Tiger Snake) survived in the absence of free water, was recommended for Distinction by two of the three reviewers and was thus awarded a Distinction.

So that is 'Academic Me'. How do I get to do what I do? The truth is that a college degree will only get you so far - passion will take you the rest of the way. 

Follow your passion and the career path will appear before you. All you have to do then is 'follow the yellow brick road, de dum, follow the yellow brick road........'. Eventually you will arrive at the Emerald City. My Emerald City is the vast expanse of tropical Northern Australia or the rugged offshore islands of the south where the people are few, deadlines don't exist and the snakes are plentiful.