Life beyond Radford
Bianca Nogrady
- Graduate Diploma, The Australian National University, Arts/Science and Science Communication
- Freelance science journalist, 2005
What does life look for you now?
I'm a full-time freelance science journalist, author and broadcaster, writing about everything from supernovae to infectious disease , for outlets including the Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Nature, Australian Geographic, Scientific American, the ABC and the BBC. I'm a regular guest on ABC and BBC radio talking about science.
I'm also two-time editor of the Best Australian Science Writing anthology and author of two non-fiction books - The End, and The Sixth Wave.
How easy was it to decide what to do in life?
I think I was lucky in that I stumbled into the perfect career. I always loved science, and I always loved writing, but it was only when I was at uni, working towards being a doctor (which I thought I wanted to do) and earning my Nerd Credentials as editor of the student newspaper that I discovered there was such a career path as science journalism. That was my lightbulb moment, and I 'm grateful I found out before I actually got into medicine, because I would have been a terrible medic.
What do you know now, that you wish you'd known when you were at Radford?
That finishing Year 12 is just the very start of your journey, and that there's a whole colourful, crazy, fascinating, exciting, messed-up world out there for you to discover and make your mark on.
What advice do you have for current students?
Don't Panic: Year 12 is not the single deciding point of your life. The decisions you make now will certainly shape the next few years of your life, but your interests will change, your options will change, and your career will change along with that. The most important thing you can do at this point is find the things you love doing, and start thinking about what a career built on those things might look like. If that career path doesn't exist, invent it and own it.