Jonathan Freestone, 24, is a student of exercise and sport science, currently completing a PhD on the physiology of baseball pitching. Robyn Goodwin, 23, has just completed a degree in psychology. Jonathan and Robyn met through chaplaincy at Sydney University where they attended Bible study, and they are now both members of the Ultimo Uniting Church. Their individual career directions and experiences have differed during their friendship, but the two have nonetheless shared the journey.
“The first year out of high school I started a year of occupational therapy. Then I transferred into exercise and sport science at Sydney Uni and graduated with Honours at the end of last year,” says Jonathan.
“I was playing a lot of baseball when I came out of school, but I hadn’t really made any plans in terms of what I would study. So I went to see a careers advisor.
I always knew I enjoyed health science but I didn’t really know what area I wanted to go into and occupational therapy seemed like a cool and diverse degree. After about six months I thought it was boring so I switched to exercise and sport science.
“There’s the sports performance side and there is also the clinical side… I’ve gone down the sports performance road and am looking at improving performance and reducing injury.
“I did formal career counselling throughout Year 12. The biggest plus is that I was provided with an understanding of what was available; I definitely talked about career options.
“Thinking about sports performance and faith — there’s not really a clear, obvious connection, but as I’m growing I’m beginning to realise that it doesn’t have to necessarily be linked with what is usually identified as bringing glory to God. I can use my passion and interest in sports performance to bring glory to God as well. I think what is important is not so much what you are doing but [asking] does the environment you are in allow you to be the person God created you to be?
“Robyn is a lovely, outgoing, bubbly personality. She’s easy to befriend. We try and keep in touch with what we’re thinking of doing in the future. She’s at the end of her degree. She was thinking of doing a PhD so I had a chat to her about reasons she might want to and not want to do a PhD, motivations good and bad. I’m about seven months into mine so I was giving her some feedback in terms of what it has involved for me.
“I feel blessed. I love playing baseball and I love researching and I feel really lucky to be paid to do something I love. Potentially I could end up doing research. I guess the pipe-dream job would be as a consultant to a major league baseball club in the US but I’m not planning too far in the future. I’m really interested in sports chaplaincy as well. I’m open minded in terms of what might lie ahead. I feel like I have options.”
Robyn Goodwin took time out to work before starting university. Initially accepted into a Bachelor of Science (Media and Communications), Robyn switched to psychology after receiving advice that she should do a degree that would ensure a vocational skill. Even so, she’s had a struggle getting clarity on just where she wants her degree to take her.
“I did career counselling about two years ago, half way through my degree,” says Robyn. “I started studying and the more I did the more I thought it wasn’t for me. It seemed a bit restrictive. I thought maybe I could change my senior units and I didn’t know how much flexibility I had. The process involved me visiting the career centre where I talked to the counsellor. She asked questions about what I was interested in but it was a bit vague and it wasn’t what I was looking for.
“I’ve only just recently finished and there are a lot of options. Having too many options is actually a problem. I’d prefer to have only a few things to pick from. I think I’m overwhelmed by choice. Currently I’ve applied for a whole bunch of things: different jobs with different organisations, postgraduate study, internships, but I haven’t heard back from any of it.
“I was feeling a bit freaked out before; because I’m on Youth Allowance I have to make a decision soon or I’ll have no money because that’s getting cut off. There are time pressures involved. But now that I’ve put myself out there I feel a bit more secure. It’s exciting but also very daunting.
“Jonathan is pretty sharp. He’s a motivated guy, he’s passionate about his faith, and he’s got an open mind and a sense of humour.
“I’m an extroverted, thinking type of person. The way I think things through is to talk about them, so I bounce things off everyone, especially my friends. Jonathan is doing a PhD. I was thinking about applying for one but after talking to people in the faculty I think it would be better to do a Research Masters.
“I’m not that anxious and fearful. I’m a bit bewildered, but I know that what people's lives are mostly composed of are fortuitous events. Because I was unsure in the beginning, I relied on the fact that I am a person who looked at what my strengths were and what I enjoyed doing. I was good at uni, I’ve done Honours and everything, and I enjoyed that learning process. If a choice isn’t there that you are driven toward or passionate about I think the best idea is just to do something you enjoy in the meantime and then you can develop your desires through that.”
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