After venturing down multiple paths, Cecilia Archer finally feels like she has hit the nail on the head when it comes to her career.
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On Thursday, the 30-year-old was among the latest University of Tasmania students to graduate with a nursing degree, after hundreds of hours of study - including a year like no other.
But while nursing was always the career Ms Archer wanted, it didn't come easy.
Growing up on a farm at Westbury, she was swayed by pressures to one day take over the family business.
However after finishing school, including an advanced diploma of business management, she said something just didn't feel right.
"I just remember thinking - 'this is not really what I want to be doing'," she said.
"It's a big commitment to take over a farm and I just thought I wanted to leave myself a bit more free.
"I needed to learn more about myself."
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Instead Ms Archer ended up falling into a career in real estate, working her way up from admin to business manager.
But after five years she was left feeling disillusioned with an industry she knew just wasn't right for her.
"I was always working with finances and everything was about bottom lines and profits," she said.
"I realised in big business, it's not always the people who are being put first. I just thought it wasn't for me."
So at 27, she decided to start again, signing up to study nursing with UTAS.
However, 2020 had different plans, with her final placement at the Mersey Community Hospital cut short due to COVID-19.
But after a difficult year involving remote learning and uncertainty over employment, Ms Archer was able to secure a job at the Launceston General Hospital.
She said she was also grateful for the opportunity to graduate in person on Thursday, as well as the winding road that led her to a nursing degree.
"I'm actually really happy with the way it's all turned out," she said. "Because I don't think as an 18-year-old leaving grade 12, I don't think I would have said 'oh I will go and study nursing'.
"But I think all my life experiences put together led me to making the decision.
"I am really confident with the outcome now. I feel like it's my life calling. I've hit the nail on the head and can finally do what I've always wanted to do."
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Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
