By Peter Lenaghan
A career change late in life can be a daunting prospect, but those who have made the decision to embark on mature age study believe others should follow their path.
A return to university after many years in the workforce has been personally, professionally and spiritually rewarding, they say, renewing their zest for life and delivering fresh perspectives.
UTS landscape architecture student Pen Campbell.
For Pen Campbell, it was seeing her son starting out on his tertiary education journey that acted as a catalyst.
“I went to university open days with him, and I just remembered that feeling of being at the end of high school and on the cusp of the rest of your life and how exciting that was,” she says.
“I think I got a bit envious, and I had some leave saved up, and I had a feeling I just needed to take a break and do something completely different for a while.“
Pen’s working life to that point was tied up in her love of music, having turned that passion into a career of teaching and administration both here in Australia and in the US.
But with questions about her future in mind, alongside conversations with friends and the prospect of an “empty nest” at home, a change of direction was enticing.
A chat with the landscape architecture team at UTS in Sydney and a long-standing interest in gardening prompted Pen to take a leap of faith.
“I wanted something that was going to put me out of my comfort zone and require me to learn a lot of new skills and think in a completely different way,” she says.
“That was a very deliberate choice, and I certainly got it. I’ve never had to communicate visually in my life, so that’s been a huge change!”
Lyn Gale was nervous about returning to study but ‘absolutely loved it’.
Lyn Gale’s decision to leave behind a long career in IT and finance was also bound up in questions about her family and future.
Lyn and her husband came to Australia around the turn of the century as refugees, having fled the unrest that had erupted in the Solomon Islands.
“We came to Australia with basically nothing – the only thing we had was our qualifications,” she says.
While her husband was able to establish himself as a teacher using his science background, Lyn completed an IT diploma and found full-time work as the family welcomed two children.
But the experience of leaving employment to care for her ill mother, before adopting a son, led Lyn to rethink her approach to work and find a career that fitted better with the demands of parenting.
“I’ve never been around with my children growing up,” she says.
“With that in mind, I was privileged to raise my adopted son … to have that one-on-one bond with that little boy, which I don’t have with my other children because I was out in the morning and home at night to work.
“I really thought about it – ‘I have to change what I need to do, going forward … that way I can look after him and still have a career’.″
Her husband’s experience as a teacher helped convince Lyn to enrol in a certificate IV in education support at RMIT University.
Returning to study was not without its challenges, including her nervousness about fitting in with a younger generation.
“The first lady that walked up to me was a year older than me and asked if I was here for this course.
“I said ‘yeah’, and she went, ‘me too!’ So that was it, that was the moment when I thought I would be fine.
“I absolutely loved it – I said to my husband, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier.’“
After graduating earlier in 2024, Lyn secured employment with her first application.
Fittingly, the role is supporting young refugees at Melbourne’s River Nile school to complete their secondary education.
“I wish God could give me a much longer life to be able to give these girls the best I can to get them where they want to go. It’s so fulfilling, I’m so blessed to be able to be in this space in Melbourne.”
Pen Campbell plans to continue studying, building on her newfound skills in landscape architecture while also returning to work in music.
“It has been so life changing and I’ve learned so much this year, not just about myself but about the world and the various subjects we’re studying,” she says.
“I felt like my circle had become very narrow just through the busy-ness of life and family and work, and suddenly it’s so big and I don’t want to let that go.
“I would encourage anyone if they feel stuck in a rut, or their circle is too small, just to be brave and get out there and do something completely different, learn a new skill, take a course, whatever it is.“
It is advice Lyn Gale enthusiastically endorses.
“My advice is if you decide to make a career change, just do it! There are biases, there are obstacles, there are things that might stop you from doing it.
“But if you feel within yourself you need to do, just do it.”