Comments (9)

• The Team 8 May, 03:39 PM

  Hi Dittmar
  
  Firstly, thanks for your post. You’ve raised some important points as there are going to be others visiting the site who may feel the same way as you do, as well as people who have been in the same position and could have some helpful advice.
  
  You’re frustrated that the site doesn’t answer all of your questions, which is understandable. The site is meant to help people think about their future and the career opportunities in certain industries in SA, and we accept that it won’t meet everyone’s needs.
  
  The site is aimed to stimulate thought and discussion around the possibilities for people starting to consider a career and the subjects they need to choose to get there. We wouldn’t want it to replace your own research, the advice available in schools, or a maybe a visit to a career counsellor.
  
  For the majority of people, like yourself, there are no easy or uniform answers when it comes to planning your future. It does take some effort to explore what you enjoy and what your skills are, and then apply this info to the range of careers that are out there in order to find what’s right for you. This way you can come to a better understanding about who you are, what makes you happy and where you may succeed, this may also help you focus your research for the future.
  
  Saying that, based on your feedback and that of other contributors, what we can do is continue to add more information to the site to meet the needs of students in South Australia. You seem as passionate about this as we are, so please let us know what would work for you or what has worked for you in the past. Chances are it will be very useful for others.
  
  If anyone else has suggestions for the site, experiences that could help Dittmar, issues you’re facing or what’s worked out, then we’d love to hear from you as well.
  
  - The Team at There's More to it Than You Think
• Dittmar 8 May, 05:47 PM

  Thanks for putting this through, and then responding, I honestly wasn't expecting either!
  
  
  Reading back on what I wrote, I realise of my comments may have been a bit...... Unsubstantiated, but the point still remains.
  
  Granted that this website isn't determined to, well, determine our ideal careers, but I know that a lot of students will be coming here with high hopes, and will leave with nothing but contempt FOR THE government and, yes, as cliché as it is, that good old teenage angst .
  
  I guess the adds are just a little misleading, I, as with a lot of others who I have talked to about the adds, especially the one where the career in engineering derives from skateboarding, got the impression that, by doing what we like, it would then translate into some fantastic, high payed job, and this new government initiative would tell us how.
  
  Yet when I came to this website, and perused the "They Did It" section, I found that every story seemed to be based around either: someone with a passion for something that drove them, or someone who, quote "was also quite good at maths and science".
  
  Now, it has been drilled into students from day one of school, that we have to follow our passion, and if we want to succeed, we need to do maths and science (as crude as it seems, its true), that’s all well and good, but, there are people, such as my self, who don’t like maths, and don't do it. There are even more who, in Yr 12, have taken maths, hate it, and are now failing because they hate it and, truth be told, aren’t very good at maths. The only reason they are doing it is so if they get into uni( with their most probably average TER score, because of the laboured subjects that disagree with their strengths), and choose the wrong subject, they will be able to chop and change.
  
  To me this seems a little against the whole, "Skateboarding to Engineering" feel that you push for in your adds, and also the fact that a good percentage of the success stories involve “being good at maths and science”, when, in my own experience with the teenagers, those who struggle through the hardest schooling year of their lives, with the burden of a passionless subject, are the ones that will be coming here for help, after all, those who have mastered titrations and differential calculus, tend to know why and where they’re headed.
  
• firewalker 9 May, 09:16 AM

  I'm in Yr 11 and doing maths and hating it - I had some misguided idea that I would need it to get into uni too, so here I am struggling with it everyday and watching my exam results with a mix of fear and not caring anymore.
  
  Dittmar's right, the ads are misleading - I thought I was going to get more direction from this site, but there are some good things here. The quiz was okay, bit naff, but at least it matched with what I already know - I'm more creatively inclined rather than a maths-geek.
  
  But I also know a couple of kids at school who are doing maths, really good at it and THEY dont know what they want to do.
  
  I get a lot of pressure from my parents about 'persisting' with maths because they reckin I'll need it, but what's the point if I'm struggling so much with it?
  
  Ugh.
  
  
• poneill 13 May, 12:08 AM

  Hi Guys,
  
  It feels like yesterday that I was at school and wondering what to do. I studied maths and physics and I received good grades but it certainly wasn't a walk in the park, and there were plenty I times that I questioned why I was studying and not off skateboarding or surfing.
  
  My whole take on the maths and science things is this - you may never use everything or anything that you're learning. If you don't like it then most prolly you won't use maths in your day to day job. I think that some of my subjects at school and at uni were much harder then anything I do in my day to day work. However completing the subjects and the courses does show a level of commitment and does prove that you can overcome challenges. This is really at the heart of my day to day work, overcoming challenges no matter what form they take. Just getting the job done and not giving up.
  
  Once you have an understanding of the basics of maths and engineering you can get a job and specialise in an area that you enjoy, but it might be an area you would never have known about. This site is just trying to let you know that there are positions out there which you may enjoy that you don't currently know or think about, but that require an engineering education. There will be a shortage of trained people in these positions so at least it can be a fall back if you want to become a pro skater or artist. I sat next to Jeff Ottaway who owns Da Klinic in my Maths 1 class and all he ever wanted to be was a pro skater or run a skate shop. I know pro AFL players with engineering degrees, and I myself haven't completely given up on being a travelling free surfer :)
  
  The site is meant to be a hub for information and if it can stimulate some discussion and thought then its better then nothing. There is no easy answer or one size fits all and I can understand your frustrations.
  
  Good luck and just remember how you feel now when you have made a successful career and you'll feel all the more chuffed :)
  
  Peter O'Neill
• shash 15 May, 11:47 PM

  Hi. I am a student in Yr 10 and i have been having trouble deciding on going to Uni, or an apprenticeship. I saw the ad, thought it looked useful and found this site. All this site has done is waste my time and tell me things i already knew. I took the quiz, and it said i was an organizer... Me? I'm the least organised person i know. The fact is, Science, is no more useful than art, in a LOT of career paths. So why stress it? Where do you need biology/chemistry/physics/psychiatry in IT & Computing?
  
  This site, as a whole, is a waste of time.
• martin.westwell 19 May, 02:36 PM

  I'm a scientist who works in science education.
  
  We know that the subjects that anyone studies and the education and training pathways they choose do shape their future careers and lives. Studying science used to be about the content, the stuff, knowing how to do something, knowing about a particular piece of information, being able to recall a particular fact. Some of this knowledge is still important but the world is changing and the information that we can we recall goes out of date very quickly. The difference between science and other subjects is the nature of the questions that we ask and the way that we make meaning of the world. For example, when a scientist comes up with an idea, they use the evidence available to them and the experimental investigations they might have performed themselves to test that idea and try to prove themselves wrong. They ask questions of themselves and their idea which help them to form an understanding of the world and a way of solving problems. When a lawyer has an idea, they go away and try to find a piece of evidence that backs up their idea even if other evidence exists that is contradictory. These are two completely different ways of thinking and valuable in their own right.
  
  The individuals who are successful in fields such as engineering, IT, computing, science and so on, and are able to make the most of the opportunities presented to them as their career develops, are those who are technically able but that is not enough. They approach problems and challenges in a way that their scientific background fostered - their technical ability is the toolkit that they use. As has been Peter O'Neill mentioned, sometimes the science won't necessarily be important for a particular job but it certainly keeps options open for future career paths.
  
  There may not be prerequisites for some courses but when it comes to employabilty and making the most of the opportunities on offer in the state, the nation and internationally now and in the future, a scientific background and the ways of thinking it fosters are becoming increasingly valuable.
• Dittmar 20 May, 05:15 PM

  I really am glad to see that all the teenagers that read and respond to this convorsation agree, and that all the older people who have said jobs are doing the old, "yes, fair enough, but science and maths are still "fun" yet "Vital" to everything.
  
  All I, as most of the others who have responded are trying to say is, the adds and this site are aimed at the wrong kids.
  
  I know of hardly any "skaters" that would under take an engineering degree in the prime of their carer just "so at least it can be a fall back if you want to become a pro skater or artist"
  
  Hounestly, if the government think that kids who want to be a pro skater or artist, will take three or four years out of their prime just to have an engineering degree to fall back on, then they are seriously out of touch!
  
  The post before this just confusing, it talks of sceince, and how its processes are different from, quote "a lawyer", but the example given of the lawyer is the exact same process esentially, he even says it
  "scientist comes up with an idea, they use the evidence available to them and the experimental investigations they might have performed themselves to test that idea and try to prove themselves wrong."
  "When a lawyer has an idea, they go away and try to find a piece of evidence that backs up their idea even if other evidence exists that is contradictory. "
  How are they "two completely different ways of thinking"
  
  Sceince uses evidence and test to prove itself wrong or right, a lawyer uses evidence to prove himself right (and even wrong given the circumstances)
  
  Anyway, its good to that the government is starting to sweat about this whole business. i think they are starting to realise they did it worng, I mean, just look at the other "blogs" there all dead, and have been for quite some time.
  
  and as "shash" said, why isn't there a site that encourges the arts? There are just as many high if not higher paid jobs in that feild, I highly doubt that many of the "stars" have engineering degrees to "fall back on"
  
  - Dittmar
  
  
  
• gregswain 5 Jun, 01:24 PM

  Dittmar,
  From reading your posts, the website obviously has not been a great help to you, and possibly others in similar situations. However, it's difficult for anyone or any forum for that matter to give advice "thats definate and near on correct" as you mentioned. We wouldn't be individuals otherwise.
  
  Generally speaking though, people around you will encourage you to strive and achieve as best you can on what ever endeavours you undertake. And I offer the same advice, because in the end, you will always do better at something you enjoy than something you don't.
  
  One aspect of this campaign is to address the issue skills shortages that exist in a variety of key industries, and that there will be employment opportunities in the future. However, careers with science/maths backgrounds are not for everyone. It always has, and always will be like this. I have many friends who have jobs/careers in completely different fields.
  
  I always encourage individuals to further their education as much as they can. In the end, I'm sure it would be cool to be a pro-skater, for want of a better example. But what happens when you get older, and you can't compete with the younger pro-skaters? How cool would it be if you then had the ability to design and make your own skateboard? After all, i'm sure there is more to making a top class skate board than just slapping together a piece of ply and a set of wheels.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Greg
• Oblivia 16 Sep, 06:50 PM

  I see that I may have missed out on this deep conversation that started months ago but I feel like I should still put my bit in.
  I came to this website with high hopes as well that I would have some clearer idea of what the next few years of my life would look like - but nothing.
  I dunno how popular this site is not really coming on here very often myself, but I'd definetly make more of an effort if there was some useful information on here. To be specific I'm talking bout some career opportunities in the Arts.
  I'm scratching for some advice on how to get my foot in the door in the music industry. Instead I was told to shove aside my music til graduation and focus on getting a high TER score for university. Feel my pain any muso's out there?
  It seems that maths and science are the way to go then, right???
  I've got nothing against the site I mean, it's intentions are good.

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