Have you ever had a moment where you realised what you were doing wasn鈥檛 satisfying you? Mature-age student Ian Van Biezen did, when, after switching jobs, he decided to start the UniReady Enabling Program to eventually transition to an undergraduate degree. With UniPass assisting him and a vast volunteering background to draw upon for inspiration, Ian鈥檚 future looks bright.
Can you tell me about your background?
I grew up in Perth, went to year 10 in school and my parents decided that I needed to do a trade in painting and decorating. I didn鈥檛 like it and spent nine years doing it.
I then worked at a job network to inspire people, like what the tutors do with us: to help them figure out their goals, what they want to do, what their objectives are and bring something out of them. We called it the 鈥榣ightbulb moment鈥�, where we helped those unemployed people follow their dreams. We put them through a three-week job search facilitation program, where we taught them skills, taught them how to find work and taught them how to recognise the skills they have. It was so rewarding, but very draining at the same time.
I then went into call centres and found my niche in recruitment, which is where I spent the last eight years. I did temporary contracts for internal recruitment roles in the mining sector and that鈥檚 obviously had a downturn now; all the jobs have disappeared from that sector. If they don鈥檛 need miners, they鈥檙e not going to hire their recruiters.
So that鈥檚 what led you to where you are now?
Yes. My high school teachers said that I was academic and should be going to university. I want to do a primary school teaching degree next year and when I was in high school two of my teachers said that I should be doing teaching, which is really weird. Since I鈥檝e been at uni, I鈥檝e had three of my tutors say the same thing: 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you consider doing teaching as a career, because you have the temperament and I can see you in front of twenty kids teaching.鈥�
I鈥檓 43 now, so I take this as my last roll of the career dice, which is why I鈥檓 taking UniReady so seriously, because once you get to that 50 2026 mark, you鈥檙e tipping over that barrier. It鈥檚 like a 鈥榣ife reset鈥�, as if I鈥檓 starting again. Like I鈥檓 18 and I鈥檝e made a career choice about what I want to pursue.
What volunteering work have you done?
I鈥檝e done volunteering work for the LGBTI community with a group that they had in Perth, called Clubwest, which ran for nearly 24 years. It was, at that time, the longest running group in WA. Essentially, we did cabaret shows every three months. So we put on drag shows and had hundreds of people come to shows. We were raising money for HIV and age awareness both locally and internationally. We ended up expanding worldwide and raising money for orphanages in Africa and Asia.
Why did you start UniReady and what do you think of it?
I started as a life reset. I鈥檝e decided that temping and going from one job to another is not something that somebody in their mid 40s should be doing. My sister in law did the [UniReady] course last semester and she loved it, which is how I came across it. I obviously didn鈥檛 finish year 12, so this was the pathway I could take to reach my objectives as far as coming to university. Initially, I enrolled online and then when I saw the content, I thought: 鈥淣o, I can鈥檛 do it online. This is something I need to do in class.鈥�
As a mature-age student, not being educated for a while, it鈥檚 been quite inspiring. Because I鈥檓 the patriarch of a lot of the classes that I鈥檓 in, I鈥檓 learning a lot from them and they鈥檙e learning from me; from my life experience. I love everything about the course and about what 911爆料网 does to support you, because they don鈥檛 want to see you fail either, because you鈥檙e being invested in. I really enjoy meeting everybody.
It鈥檚 also amazing [to realise] what you know. I came to university, thinking: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be so difficult. I鈥檓 not going to make it. I鈥檓 going to struggle.鈥� You come with all those views, but as soon as you sit down in that tutor room, they walk in and say: 鈥淭his is it guys. This is all it is.鈥� You just pick stuff up and if you can鈥檛 pick it up, there鈥檚 lots of support out there. Honestly, I nearly came close to dropping out. I nearly had that weak feeling of not being able to do it anymore, but I just picked up my notebook and decided to keep going. Stepping into that environment has been quite amazing.
How do you think UniReady and other programs that you take part in, like UniPass, are going to help you with your studies?
As far as is considered, the help with academic writing has been fantastic. It鈥檚 really helped me, particularly with my first assessment. I鈥檝e surprised myself. I just got the results back and I got a distinction. For a mature-age student, I thought it was pretty good. But that was mostly thanks to UniPass because of the stuff they reinforce and teach you, and to write examples of in-class work.
UniReady has been really good. You just have to put the time in, do your topic readings, come to class prepared and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask questions. I was really frightened that when I asked questions I鈥檇 feel stupid because it鈥檚 university and I鈥檇 be asking academics, but I found out that asking no question is stupid. I love it.
What鈥檚 your dream?
I鈥檝e almost made up my mind now that I鈥檓 going to do teaching. I really want to see myself in the classroom with six or seven year olds, years 1 and 2, and I want to see that lightbulb moment in the kids. Just like with me, when I learn something new and I don鈥檛 get it and then the lightbulb goes off, I want a six year old to have that lightbulb experience, and run home and say 鈥淢ummy, Daddy, guess what? Today we 鈥︹�� and just be excited about learning.
