Returning to study could reignite your passion

4 January 2021

Are you feeling like the passion you had for your career is starting to fade, or that it’s disappeared completely? Maybe you feel like you’ve gone as far as you can in your current job and now you’re just putting in hours to pay the bills?

Deakin University, Australia
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It could be worth considering how a return to study could help reignite your passion for your career, or help you start down a whole new path.

A decision like that can feel daunting. Where will you find the time? Has university changed that much from when you first went? What if you put in all the necessary time, money, and effort, and you don’t actually love your new career?

Making the decision
For former ABC sports reporter, Ben Lisson, the decision to end his 10-year broadcasting career and start a new life in international relations was an organic one. It wasn’t a result of disliking his job. At 31 years of age he had travelled around the world and covered incredible sporting events, like the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea.

But he started to feel like he had done all that he had set out to do, and he was frequently finding himself talking about international relations in his down time.

He had an natural interested in both human relationships and the world, so he realized that international relations seemed like a logical career progression.

Returning to study — one step at a time
He started by studying remotely from Cambodia, where his wife was completing a one-year volunteer placement in public health.

Cautious about getting ahead of himself when he had never really been an academic, even in his first degree, and in a new area of study no less, he began with one unit at a time. But once he started he instantly realized that he had made the right decision, and he went on to graduate with a Master of International Relations at Deakin University.

Juggling a career and classes
Ben found his biggest challenge was juggling his full-time sports reporting job with the demands of full-time study.

He’d spend the day at sporting events and then go home to work on projects and papers late into the night. He emphasizes the need to be passionate about what you’re studying, because that’s what will push you through.

The pay-off
Shortly after completing his masters, Ben got a job as a policy officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, Australia. He and his wife moved from Melbourne and a month later welcomed their first child.

He says it’s been exciting being able to spend every day doing what he’s interested in.

If you want to reignite your passion, keep this in mind
Having been there and succeeded, Ben advises others in a similar situation to not let their own fears stand in their way. Life’s too short not to do something you’re completely invested in, and you’ll never know what it will look like until you try!

About Deakin University

Deakin University is a global leader ranked in the top 1% in a number of study areas, including accounting and finance, architecture, education, law, communication and media studies, nursing and medicine.* Deakin is also ranked 3rd in the world for sport science** and 8th in the world for postgraduate sports management.***

Students can get involved through more than 150 clubs and societies or make use of Deakin’s wide range of student services and support. Deakin Genie, your personalized digital assistant, is an award-winning app developed by Deakin to help students keep track of their commitments and get the most out of their time at university!

Popular Deakin University programs for Canadian students include medicinelawoccupational therapynursingpublic health, and teaching.

*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019
** ShanghaiRankings Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments 2018
*** Sport Business International

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