Towards the life and art of balance

18 July 2006: Among the stories in the latest edition of the Monitor magazine is an account of the amazing and impressive success our University of Canberra athletes had at the Commonwealth Games.

The University 'performed' as if it were the 12th best performing Commonwealth country, yet of course we are a community of little more than 10,000, an international community of people striving towards higher education, indeed, the best education.  

Balance

These events prompt some renewed thoughts about striving towards a satisfying balance of work, education, and other achievements, be they in sport, the arts or whatever. We can all take a cue from these athletes: who apply huge amounts of time and effort to their sport, while still progressing with their studies, and yet maintaining a social life.

They balance their bodies, they balance their schedules. I have always been convinced that complementing the work of study (and earning a living) with intensive competitive or creative activities, even occupying much lesser time, is a path towards wellbeing.

Our athletes exemplify the reciprocal of that: they often have to spend the vast majority of their time in training and sports competition, yet they complement it with successful study. Several of them have said that adding study to their mixture of activities helps their athletic focus and outcomes, as well as their life pattern. I couldn't agree more.

A few broader ideas flow immediately from this. One is that when relevant we can compete at international levels in all our activities, not solely in our efforts as educator or sportsperson. This thought can be an encouragement and an incentive to a young academic: sometimes the pressure of entering academia, and the responsibility towards students, can seem overpowering. But gradually, it can be brought under control, so that the exceptional freedom of opportunity of being an academic can be fulfilled.

Portfolio

Another thought which follows from these recent sporting events is that the art of balancing multiple activities needs to be phased over a lifetime. A person's 'portfolio', and its balancing (as they say in the stock markets), need continual, sometimes drastic and periodic, adjustment.

Most of our young sports people will not be international athletes for more than five-10 years: this is impossible in most sports. But they are already preparing the areas in which they will excel in the phase of life which succeeds their most intense involvement as an athlete per se. We can all benefit from thinking about phasing the division of time between teaching and learning, research, and our other creative and high quality activities, whatever they are.

In my own case, I moved from '100 percent' researcher to '90 percent' institute and then University leader (while undertaking musical work of international standing throughout). In mid 2007, more than 18 years later, I will return to being a 100 percent researcher, and of course continue my musical work.

We can all plan these phases of our professional careers and other life activities: towards an enjoyable yet contributory path, towards an art of balance.

Roger Dean, Vice-Chancellor.

Previous columns

Celebrating Excellence

New intelligences

Promoting University Autonomy and Academic Freedom of Speech: Part 2

Promoting University Autonomy and Academic Freedom of Speech: Part 1

Voluntary Student Unionism

Welcome

The powers of politics, the sophistication of the Senate

SCA Fees revisited

About the Vice-Chancellor

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Last Updated on August 1, 2005