Experts say the average person will have at least three different careers in a lifetime. Fiona Perry talks to three Monash mature- age students who have braved the return to study to make a career change.

The life of a mature-age undergraduate student is, more often than not, an arduous one. Juggling competing work, family, financial and social commitments on top of a demanding study schedule would test even the most dedicated student. So why would anyone choose to throw their life into such disarray?

Mr Doug Potter's transition from police officer to law student was "a natural progression".

For police sergeant and law student Mr Doug Potter, the decision to return to study as a 34-year-old was a relatively easy one. After 14 years in the police force, it was simply time to move on, and having had first-hand experience with the law, becoming a lawyer seemed a natural progression, he says.

"I'd always had an interest in law, and had thought that if I'd ever change career, I'd go into something I was familiar with. I'd had a lot to do with barristers and solicitors in my job, and I thought I could be good at it."

Mr Potter says it was also his experience of below-par legal representation while a police officer that fuelled his desire to study law.

"I'd seen people represented in court who I thought should have got off, but didn't, because they weren't as well represented as they should have been," he says.

"I'm interested in working with and helping people. I think the police force has strayed from its traditional function of helping people; I found that when I was in the force I was just going from one job to the next.

A satisfying experience

"While studying law at Monash, I've worked with clients at the Dandenong Family Court, done a lot of family mediation, helped clients prepare orders and helped get them out of the court system so they could get on with their lives. It has really been satisfying."

Pastoral care coordinator at a Melbourne Catholic girls' school and Monash distance education student Ms Liz Skehan describes herself as "a very regulated student".

Social work student Ms Liz Skehan says she is interested in the ''bigger picture''.

She works four days and two nights per week in her job, as well as studying second-year social work part-time.

"As a distance education student, you have to be very self-disciplined - you really are in charge of your own study program. It's tough, but I enjoy the stimulation of studying."

Originally a primary school teacher, Ms Skehan had social work in the back of her mind in the early 1980s, but didn't feel ready to tackle it at the time.

After undertaking camp work for five years in secondary schools in New South Wales, Ms Skehan completed a masters in pastoral studies in Chicago, which centred around families, young people, human development, sociology and spirituality.

University studies in student welfare followed on her return to Melbourne, but she decided that counselling was not enough.

"I'm interested in the bigger picture - prevention rather than intervention," she says. "Prevention is much more efficient in terms of human and financial resources."

On completion of her studies, Ms Skehan sees herself working with families and young people.

Former insurance broker-turned-Monash arts-student and aspiring teacher Mr Rob Rennie sees the irony in his return to study.

Monashıs Mature-age and Part-time Students Association (MAPS) is an important resource for mature-age students.

"It's a funny story," he says. "During my final year at Melbourne High School back in the 1960s, I approached the senior coordinator and said, 'I'm studying English, Social Studies, Economics, Australian and British History - what career can I go into?' He said, 'What about teaching?' I left school three weeks later! Now, oddly enough, I'm pursuing that very course - I should have taken his advice in the first place."

After 23 years in insurance broking, and approaching 40, Mr Rennie was looking for a change. "Insurance was a high-pressure job and the industry was being downsized. I saw the writing on the wall, and teaching was something I really wanted to do, so I made the break."

Looking forward

After 23 years as an insurance broker, Mr Rob Rennie became a full-time university student to fulfil his ambition of becoming a teacher.

On leaving the insurance industry, Mr Rennie worked on a government project for a year teaching communications to the unemployed. He also started to write 'the great Australian novel' and undertook some university subjects through the Open Learning program.

Now in the final year of his arts degree, Mr Rennie is looking forward to starting his new career as a secondary school teacher.

"I've loved my time at Monash," he said, "but I can't wait to finish and start teaching. There have been a lot of difficulties in coming back to study - relying on my wife's income, and juggling study with family commitments. I've had to fight to be here, but that's what it's all about - you do it because you want to."

		For more information on undergraduate courses at Monash, contact the Prospective Students Office on +61 3 9905 1320.