For Effie Tan, studying commerce was the starting point for a career shaped by a willingness to take unexpected paths.
Initially planning to study English Literature, Effie switched to the Bachelor of Commerce because she thought it would open more doors.
Those possibilities began to take shape through the people she met and the experiences she pursued.
"The friends and acquaintances I made at university shaped my perspectives of the world for the first three to five years after graduation," she says. "Seeing what they had done directly shaped my understanding of what was possible."
Strong academic results led to overseas exchange, scholarships, internships and an Honours year. In her third year, Effie also travelled to Shanghai through Global Management Consulting, working with a not-for-profit to develop a business case for free surgeries for orphans with congenital diseases.
The experience showed her how economic decision-making could influence social outcomes and sparked an interest that would continue throughout her career.
After graduating, Effie joined Bain & Company, where she built a foundation in problem-solving, teamwork and working with senior clients. The experience also challenged her assumptions about what it meant to succeed.
"As a high achiever at university, I graduated thinking I was ready for anything," she says. "Being a small fish at Bain quickly taught me how much more I had to learn."
Effie's interest in how business could contribute to social and environmental challenges eventually took her from consulting into government. At the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, she worked on climate and economic transition policy.
Working with rural and regional communities affected by industrial transition changed the way she thought about creating meaningful change.
"I used to think of climate and health issues as policy problems. If you have well-designed programs and incentives, outcomes will follow," she says.
"Now, I think the hardest challenge for leaders in a democratic society is not just to design good policy but to bring people on the journey of change."
Alongside consulting and policy, Effie has pursued another, less conventional interest: comedy.
As a stand-up comedian and podcast host, she uses comedy to explore questions of identity, belonging and finding her own voice.
"Comedy and podcasting are my ways to be curious about my voice," she says. "I also believe that comedy is a powerful tool to help us understand the world in which we live and celebrate different interpretations of life."
Now, Effie's next chapter is taking her to Harvard Business School, where she received the R.G. Menzies Scholarship to undertake an MBA.
She plans to explore entrepreneurship and women's wellness, as well as how new approaches to investment could help healthcare innovations move from ideas to scalable solutions.
For Effie, the scholarship represents both recognition of the path she has taken and an opportunity to reinvent herself again.
"We can be funny, creative and ambitious; we can care about social causes and be commercially savvy; we can lead change from the forefront, even when we haven't always felt like we belonged."
Rather than encouraging students to follow the same path, Effie's advice is to stay curious and be willing to change direction as you learn more about yourself and what matters to you.
"The lesson I would take from my career so far is curiosity and energy," she says. "I took turns to better understand what I care about, what I can offer the world, what tangible things I need from my career – and continued to reinvent myself as I gathered more information."