When I was growing up I had a few ideas of what I wanted to become in the future but none of them were about business analysis. In the early nineties, not everyone had a computer. I remember our family first got a computer in 1996.

From what I can remember, these are a few of things I wanted to be when older:
An ironman triathlete
A writer
A politician (prime minister of Australia to be completely truthful)

As a teenager, I had to revisit what I would become as it was becoming more urgent. By then, I at least knew I had to attend University to get ahead – I thank my parents for instilling this thought into my head. The things I realised by year nine (ninth grade) was that I liked solving problems and I could figure out how to use a computer relatively quickly. Little did I know that this would be influential in my decision to become a business analyst later on. Back then, I didn’t know what business analysis was but I was confident that the IT industry would provide a career that would utilise my interest in computers and pay well – the late 90s was a great time for IT professionals.

A year into my Bachelor of IT degree, I couldn’t see how things were going to work out. I still liked IT but for the life of me I could not learn software programming. I felt like changing degrees to something more oriented towards the humanities like international studies. Instead, I took a semester off from university to work and eventually go overseas. Upon my return, I made the decision that I would pursue the role of business analyst. I changed degrees to the Bachelor of Business Informatics and enjoyed my studies from then on.

That was 6 years ago. I’ve held this goal of becoming a BA for this long and I’m still striving to get there. That’s OK because I know that my current circumstances won’t indicate my future circumstances nor how far I can go in my career. I’ve always had faith though. I trust that my abilities will help me become a business-oriented problem solver. I know that when faced with an unfamiliar challenge, I can draw on my research skills to learn what I need to, and talk to whom I need to, in order to get the task done. I’ve been supported and encouraged along the way; I’ve also been defied. I was once told that I am at least four years away from becoming a BA. I am thankful though, for these situations just increase my determination to achieve my goal.

I have a feeling that my skills will be required soon. I feel that I am ready. When I think about it, every experience I’ve had in the last six years has prepared me to serve as a business analyst – at least that’s how I like to look at it.

I hope to give an update in six months to see how things have fared since then.