How a MyRoad mentor gave Nickiera new insights into a future career in science

Nickiera is a Year 10 student at Keysborough College Banksia Campus in Victoria. Nickiera and a group of students recently participated in a MyRoad mentor session hosted by Beacon Foundation. Nickiera had the opportunity to meet Pamela D’Netto who is a Senior Speech Pathologist at Queensland Health.

We asked Nickiera about her experience joining a MyRoad session for the first time, this is what she said.

Hi Nickiera, you’ve just completed a MyRoad mentor session, congratulations! What did you learn from the mentor?

Thank you! I got to speak to Pamela and I learnt more about the health industry as a whole. I got a further insight into the process of getting into a career that does interest me. I learnt that an Australian degree in any sort of healthcare is thought of very highly in other countries like the UK.

What did you think about MyRoad before you did the mentor session?

I was actually quite sceptical about it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be comfortable with doing it. As I didn’t have much of an understanding of what it was before actually doing it, I kind of just rolled my eyes because it was a mandatory thing that I knew I had to do.

After having completed the session, has anything changed?

Totally, the program went above and beyond my expectations. I didn’t realise that we’d be actually able to have a proper conversation with the mentor. I liked the fact that we did it in a small group, and that we could ask questions regarding Pamela’s job and her experiences with working in healthcare. If I knew that it was going to be in small groups and that we’d be able to actually ask questions the way we did, I definitely think I would’ve had a more positive thought process before going into the program.

What were your main takeaways from the session?

Definitely that healthcare is a hard career, but extremely rewarding. I also learnt the fact that Australian degrees in health are considered very admirable in other countries. Another takeaway is how many opportunities healthcare has within itself, like you could study to do one thing and that could lead up to another career in healthcare that you’re interested in.

What will you be doing next, as a result of the MyRoad program?

I will definitely be focusing a lot more in classes, so that I can have a greater background knowledge going into university. I’m also going to look into possibly considering doing my studying in Australia then going overseas for a job, it just seems really cool that people in healthcare can travel to get jobs.

Any tips you would like to share with other students that you learned from the mentor?

Probably that you will have to work hard to get into a career you want, especially relating to healthcare. That now (Year 10) is the time to start really focusing on school and trying your hardest. Lastly that you may start off in a career that you don’t like, and you shouldn’t be afraid to take that risk and change jobs.

Is there anything else you would like to tell future students who are about to do a MyRoad mentor session?

I’d say talking with the mentor in small groups is not as intimidating as it would be if it was like with a whole class. It was really enjoyable and it did help open my eyes further into the healthcare industry.

Thank you Nickiera for sharing your story.

Special thank you also to Pamela D’Netto who is one of our valuable volunteer mentors. Check out Pamela’s story in the video below to hear why she decided to join Beacon Foundation as a mentor and what she thinks is the best part of the program.

About MyRoad

The MyRoad mentor program is run online and gives students an opportunity to talk directly with an industry mentor. Close to 1000 trained mentors (all volunteers) from diverse industries and backgrounds are matched with students from schools across Australia where they meet in a supervised online environment. Mentors guide students through a set of 6 structured modules, all aligned to the Australian Curriculum for General Capabilities and Work Studies. In response to COVID-19 lockdowns, students like Nickiera in Victoria, can now also participate in MyRoad from home once a school has made a booking.

For more information about MyRoad and how to sign up your students, click here.