The Hunter River Times

With HSC results released to students on December 14, Stacy Munzenberger has a strong message to share with readers.

Her story is an inspiration to everyone to follow your dreams and a reminder there is always more than one way to land your dream job.

Stacy attended Singleton Heights Public School and then Singleton High.  She didn’t have strong career ambition, didn’t do necessary subjects to gain an ATAR and left school in Year 11 to work at Big W.

She was happy at work and didn’t have any aspirations to work anywhere else.

At the age of 20, friend was going to Passmores so she decided to join her and studied marketing.

This helped to place her in a job in administration at Cutcher and Neale, an accounting and financial services firm.

Here she learnt about Open Foundation that paved a way into university study.  Working with a financial firm she thought she might like to do accounting.  In addition to accounting courses, out of interest she enrolled in a law course.  She didn’t pass the accounting course but the experience opened up her interest in law.

She applied to study business and law at Newcastle Uni but didn’t get into either.

That year, a second round offer at Southern Cross Uni and started studying tourism but this was for her.

Finaly she was accepted to study legal and justice studies at Southern Cross, a course she could do externally.  She passed with flying colours with high distinctions and credits in all her subjects and she started to really direct her career path by studying a Bachelor of Law at the University of New England.  She then did a graduate diploma in legal studies at ANU in Canberra, another external course.

I might add that Stacy was working full time throughout her study.

After six-and-a-half years of full time study and work, she was admitted to the bar in 2010.

Working for several law firms, Stacy finally went out on her own in 2016.  She now has offices in Singleton and Maitland and a practice in Queensland.

It is not the traditional path you hear from successful lawyers.  As a student at school, Stacy said she never thought of herself as very academic.  She was told she was ‘too dumb’ to study law but cannot remember who said it but those words fired up a spark within Stacy and her response was ‘just watch me’.

“I was happy working at Big W but I went to Passmores and if I didn’t go there I would never have worked at Cutcher and Neale and if I didn’t work there I would not have known about Open Foundation.  If I hadn’t had all the work experience at various firms I may not have gone out on my own, I have made so many connections because of this,” Stacy said.

“I thought I wanted to be an accountant but I wasn’t cut out for that and now I am in a job I just enjoy because I feel I am helping people in difficult circumstances.”

Her message to those who don’t receive the HSC results they had hoped for that it is not the end of the world.

“Things happen for a reason, I have experienced so many setbacks, you have your grieving moment but then you get on with it, it’s your life, celebrate your 13 years of schooling, take some time off and enjoy life, the most important thing anyone can do is find happiness, happiness is priority,” Stacy said.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

On behalf of all our staff, we wish you a Merry Christmas.  Enjoy time with your family and friends, be grateful and in Stacy’s words, be happy.

This is our last edition for 2023 and we will be back in the office on January 8 to get ready for our January 19, 2024 edition.

What are we doing over the break you may ask?  Well, it has been a massive year so there will be plenty of feet up from this end I can assure you.