How A Business Degree Changed the Lives of these Two Students

Meet David and Fiona.

This article is presented in partnership with Monash Business School.

When you think about uni changing your life, what do you think of?

While most people might say it allowed them to get a job, there’s a whole range of ways a degree can make waves in your personal life.

Last year, we partnered with Monash Business School to bring you What I Wish I Knew About Studying Business, a podcast all about how studying business at Monash can help students advance their lives and careers.

@studentedge

“There’s so many different pathways, I feel like that’s something that people sometimes forget.” What advice would you give your high school self? 🎓

♬ original sound - Student Edge

So, we thought we’d look back on a couple of our fav interviews from the series and think about how the experiences the students shared can help more people out.

Fiona’s experience of being a student ambassador.

In our first episode, we chatted to Fiona Tran, an IT and commerce student, about how she transitioned from her high school days into uni life.

Chatting with hosts Bryce and Alec, Fiona spoke about how although coming out of year 12 “felt so free”, university itself was “pretty daunting”.

But, she decided to take the plunge and start her uni career. On reflection, it was a lot simpler than she thought it might be.

“I feel like uni is definitely a big jump from high school, but it’s not that bad of a transition. You have teachers who are really accommodating and understand that we just left high school!”

Throughout the podcast, Fiona shared her advice on how to manage uni life and make the most out of your degree.

She spoke about how you don’t have to know what you want to do at first, and it’s fine to change your degree while at uni.

Fiona also spoke about how you should take every opportunity you can get at uni, like Monash Business School's Industry Experience program.

You can hear all her advice by listening to the podcast above!

David’s experience of starting a business.

David Bookman joined the show as the final guest to talk about how his business degree helped him start a business alongside his best mate.

While at uni, David and his best mate Ryan started ‘Buttons’; a disability support service that connects NDIS participants with support workers.

After changing his degree a few times, David found a commerce degree was the perfect way to develop his skills and his business.

“I’m in the start-up world, and a commerce degree gives you a really good awareness for what exists out there,” he said.

“Irrespective of the career choice I made, I felt like I had a good sense of competence behind me.”

David also spoke about how good it was starting a business with such a close friend. 

"It's a really beautiful thing, if done well," he said. "“When we started, we were really cautious of the fact that this is something that could be dangerous, but we set really clear boundaries."

But despite these potential pitfalls, David said the experience of working and developing together was massively rewarding. 

“There’s a personal fulfilment when I see him succeed, because I knew him from years ago—we went to high school together.”

You can listen to the podcast above and be sure to check out the rest of the series on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!