Protégé: ‘Give it your best shot’: The path from valedictorian to High Court

Valedictorian, a major award and an incredibly coveted first job later, one graduate is still sticking to the same game plan that got her there: staying focused on her own achievements and believing that everything that happens is for a big reason. 

In this episode of The Protégé Podcast, host Naomi Neilson is joined by University of Queensland graduate Anna Kretowicz to talk about her accomplishments so far – finishing top of her class, receiving the Una Prentice Award and securing one of the best first jobs in the profession, to name a few – but, more importantly, the positive mindset that she has kept with her throughout it all. 

For Anna, every experience and every opportunity that has come her way has been worth something in the end, even if she learnt that it was something she would never want to do again and even if it meant detouring from her path for a little bit. On top of it all, it was important to be ready for a rejection for the risk of a best-case scenario. 

“That’s another piece of advice that I would give to other law students or other law graduates or young professionals, anyone who’s in a space where there might be particular opportunities open to you is just put your name down for things. Put your hand up and say, ‘Hey, I want to give this a go’. Best case is it works out for you. Worst case scenario, it’s a no,” Anna told listeners. 

She also advises other students and graduates to not be too wrapped up in their peers’ achievements and to remember that there are “plenty of seats at the table” for their own wins: “Just because someone’s doing something particularly interesting, it doesn’t mean that you have to as well.” 

We also chat about making a mid-university degree change and the mindset behind making that happen, getting all the way to the High Court and social advocacy work. 

Check out the episode below!

If you have any questions about the episode or if there are any topics that you might want us to look into, please reach out – we would love to hear from you! 

We’re also always open to new guests so if you have an exciting story to tell, if you’re standing out as a student or graduate, or if you can offer some tips for our young lawyers, get in touch. 

You can reach us here:

Emails: editor@lawyersweekly.com.au or naomi.neilson@momentummedia.com.au

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