Dual careers in sport and academics is a rare path. Being able to perform at a high level in both sport and study requires high motivation for both, time management skill, and the right approach to the balance.
Aidan Read has shown that he has struck the balance, having recently completed a Bachelors degree at the University of Western Australia in Perth while competing internationally in Motorsport through the entire course.
The combination of broad Motorsports experience and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering gives a unique set of transferrable skills. This is what 21-year-old Aidan hopes to develop into a dual career going forward.
During the Coronavirus lockdown, Aidan completed his studies in Perth with his final courses being completed through online learning. “The final part of the degree was a real challenge having to learn in isolation, however communicating and completing work through online collaboration will be an extremely important skill going forward, so the final push for the degree is good preparation for a changing structure of work,” Aidan said.
“Since I entered UWA under a scholarship in 2017, a goal of mine to maintain a high average mark,” he continued. “80% is a high distinction grade, which was the cut-off I aimed to achieve in every task. My average after 3.5 years of study is 80.375% so it’s really nice to see that I on average performed at the level I always targeted. That’s a big win for me and within that average mark there were plenty of stresses, good and bad days, and lost sleep!”
Aidan completed his Bachelors degree just in time to make preparations for the postponed 2020 ADAC GT Masters Championship.
“Getting a good season in and having the degree done were two of my important goals for the year and the dual career,” he explained. “Although the balance of travel has been changing due to lockdown, I still have the chance to do what I set out to do which is very exciting and I will now have a new perspective about it all.”
