Like many Year 12 students, Alyssa Dorio had no idea what she wanted to do when she finished school.
What Alyssa did know was that she loved sports and being active. With the experience of having danced for 13 years and having grown up in a competitive sports household, Alyssa started to think about turning her passion into a career.
For Alyssa, Year 12 was a tough year and she says the first hurdle she faced was not getting the ATAR score she had hoped for. Although disappointed and unsure of what her future held, she says she knew she still wanted to study.
While exploring her options, Alyssa came across Chisholm’s sport courses and says she was happy to discover she didn’t need an ATAR to be able to study at TAFE. She enrolled in the one year Dual Diploma in Sport - Diploma of Sport and Recreation Management / Diploma of Sport (Development and Coaching) at the Chisholm Sports Academy. “I knew I would find new opportunities via the course in the hopes of doing a uni degree,” Alyssa says.
At Chisholm, Alyssa excelled academically. She achieved high distinctions in most of her units and was a nominee for Vocational Student of the Year at the 2020 Chisholm Education Awards.
Alyssa is now studying a Bachelor of Physical Education and Sport Science at Victoria University and plans to study a Master of Teaching. “I plan to complete my degree and then progress to a Masters of Teaching to be a qualified health and physical education teacher,” Alyssa says. “I would love to teach in a secondary school and maybe one day become a leader or coordinator of the sporting department in a school.”
Chisholm sport diplomas course coordinator Donna Stevens says TAFE pathways to university, like the path Alyssa followed, offer students a unique gateway to higher education. “The dual diploma qualification offers students the opportunity to follow a pathway into a university degree with guaranteed entry into a range of Deakin University degrees and options for credits at many other universities,” Donna says. “Our students are well placed for success in higher education owing to the combination of theory and practical experiences applying the knowledge gained in the classroom.”
Alyssa’s says her advice to current Year 12 students who don’t know what the future will hold is to follow their passion and know they can jump any hurdles they come across. “I’ve found that hard work and consistency is everything,” she says. “It may be cliché, but follow what your heart desires. Follow your passion and you will fall exactly into the industry you’re meant to.
