I missed my goal ATAR. It was the best thing that happened to me

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During Year 12, I had my goal ATAR written just about everywhere. The number was on post-it notes stuck around my room; it was written over and over again in my journal; I even had a palm card with the number that sat  in the pocket of my school shirt. I worked really hard during Year 12 but I did not achieve my ideal mark. I was upset about it then; I’m thrilled about it now.

What was my goal number? I think it was 99.1. My goal was to enroll in an Arts/Law degree at the University of New South Wales. I didn’t get 99.1, I wasn’t offered a place in this degree.

[Fun fact: I think the cut off was closer to 99.9. So, even if I’d hit my goal, I wouldn’t have got in anyway.]

My second choice was a Commerce/Arts degree, also at UNSW. My plan was to start this degree, do really well, and transfer to Arts/Law in second year. But something funny happened. 

I really enjoyed the Commerce part of the degree. The economics subjects were great and gave me the opportunity to explore the content in much more depth. I also took marketing subjects and found them super interesting, with lots of real-world connections. I also had a mix of lecturers and tutors who took an interest in my progress and suggested ways to further develop my skills.

At the end of first year I had no desire to switch degrees. I was happy exactly where I was. 

Here’s the other thing: I had no desire to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a journalist. I was going to do a combined law degree because people suggested a broad degree would help build my knowledge. I could then get practical experience as a journo in the workforce. So why switch to law if I was already doing a broad degree I enjoyed?

Think about this: your ATAR is only one (imperfect) measure.

I’m so old I didn’t have an ATAR. I had a University Admissions Index (UAI). But it’s the same idea as the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). It’s a rank; it determines if you meet the cut-offs for university courses. 

You may have (or have had) a goal ATAR in mind. That’s a good thing — it’s important to have goals to work toward. But, despite how hard you work, you may miss this goal. And this could be okay. This could be better than okay. If I hadn’t done Commerce/Arts, I wouldn’t have majored in economics. I probably wouldn’t have got to write for the Australian Financial Review. I would not have had the prerequisites to become an economics teacher. 

Missing goals doesn’t feel great in the moment. Yet there can be a bigger picture where a different path leads to experiences and opportunities that you didn’t know were possible.