Regional high-schooler takes online uni subjects to jump-start her future
In a small South Australian town miles from any university campus, lives a 17-year old high schooler with a passion for science, a compound microscope, and a dream of working in a lab and discovering something interesting one day.
For most high school students, these formative years are spent exploring interests and wondering, “what do I want to be when I grow up?”
For Sophie—a high school student, home schooled in regional Australia, studying university subjects online from two different leading unis around Australia—that answer was easy. Scientist.
So how did she get to where she is today?
Here to guide you there
When Sophie switched to home schooling in Year 7, she discovered she had a lot of spare time on her hands, so she decided to take advantage of her situation. “It [home schooling] wasn’t as challenging as I expected it to be. I thought that I could use that spare time to broaden my learning.”
With a bit of help from mum and the flexibility and ease of Open Universities Australia, Sophie was able to explore and compare her options, and enrol in both General Physics through Murdoch University, and Foundations in Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences 1 with Macquarie University.
“I always knew I liked science, but Open Universities Australia has helped me narrow what field I wish to study after high school.”
How Open Universities Australia is empowering regional and rural students like Sophie
Typically, when you think of university, you might think of a young adult hitting the busy campus library in a metropolitan area. With the introduction of online study, that has all changed.
With flexible online study options and access to leading universities online through Open Universities Australia, living in regional or rural Australia is no longer a barrier for getting a quality higher education.
Neither is age. Young high-schoolers are using single subjects and short courses to better understand what they want to do once leaving secondary school and get a jump start on their futures.
“It was a little nerve racking because I’d never done anything on this level before. I was worried thar I wouldn’t be able to keep up because it was aimed at people a lot older than me... it was the perfect amount of challenging.”
Conversely, many students enrolled through Open Universities Australia are in their second or third act of life. Whether it be a busy mum going after a career change, a retiree looking to follow their passion, or a passionate learner looking to enrich their days.
No longer is there a ‘normal’ when it comes to higher education. If you once thought uni wasn’t for you but are now curious about your options, book a call with an Open Universities Australia student advisor.
They’ll give you free and impartial advice on how flexible online university courses could fit into your life, assist you in choosing and enrolling in the right course, and help you find the confidence to reach your goals.
