Like many her age, Year 12 student Carys Leota doesn’t have it all figured out yet – that’s what drew her to the Headstart program.

"I feel like Headstart will help me determine what I really want to do in the future,” Carys says.

“I’m studying Marketing Essentials in Business so I can figure out if this is the course for me – before I commit to any big decisions."

Heading into her first class, Carys expected to be surrounded by other Headstart students. She was surprised to be learning alongside a mix of people from different backgrounds – school leavers, to adult students who were balancing work, family and study.

"I thought it was going to be difficult and that I wouldn't be able to keep up,” she says.

“Being a high school student, I was nervous that I'd be completely out-of-place with people who already had a lot of university and life experience.

"But it's just like a normal high school class, everyone's a student. You're treated exactly the same as everyone else.

"They teach you from the very start so that you have the same knowledge as everyone else.

“And our tutors encourage us to all get involved in discussion, where people ask questions you might not feel confident enough to ask."

As a school captain with a busy schedule that includes sport, service activities, work and other extracurricular commitments, study flexibility was a major draw for Carys.

"I really like that I can choose to do my class at a time that suits my schedule," she says.

"Flexibility is very important to me.

“The fact that it's online as well as in the classroom is very convenient, because I can basically learn from anywhere.”

One of the biggest things Carys says she has gained from Headstart is confidence.

"It showed me university is available to you, it's accessible to you and it is very much a possibility," she says.

For students who are still exploring their future, Carys recommends Headstart as a good opportunity to see what university is like before taking the next step.