Trusting Your Own Timeline
Sienna Dixon, Class of 2025, has always been drawn to a life that keeps her busy, challenges her to work hard, and gives her the opportunity to experience more of the world. Now, as she prepares for a career in the yachting industry, she’s building the qualifications and work experience to make that happen – while learning that reaching your goals doesn’t always mean sticking to the timeline you originally had in mind.
What is Sienna doing now?
Since finishing school, Sienna has been steadily building towards a career in yachting – an industry she had been interested in for some time after seeing family members follow a similar path.
The opportunity to work while travelling, meeting people from different backgrounds and experiencing different cultures was a big part of the appeal. But Sienna also recognised something of herself in the nature of the work. “I’ve always been someone who likes keeping busy, working hard and getting things done,” she explains, “so the more I learnt about the industry, the more it felt suited to me.”
Her original plan was to enter the industry sooner, but the year after matric has taken a slightly different shape – and Sienna is grateful that it has.
She has gained experience across several different jobs, working as a hostess, wine ambassador, waitress and bartender. She has also completed her RYA Powerboat Level 2, VHF Radio SRC and Personal Watercraft qualifications and is moving into the next stage of her training with her Superyacht Stewardess course and STCW.
Rather than rushing to get onboard, Sienna’s goal is now to enter the industry next year with her qualifications completed, more work experience behind her and a stronger CV.
“I’m most excited for that moment when I finally step onboard and realise all the work I’ve put into getting there has paid off,” she says.
Because she hasn’t had many opportunities to travel before, Sienna is especially excited about experiencing a different country, meeting new people and properly beginning this next chapter of her life.
How did Koa prepare Sienna for life after school?
One of the things Sienna says she didn’t fully appreciate until leaving school was just how much independence she had developed at Koa.
At Koa, students are given the structure, resources, and teacher support they need, while also being expected to take real responsibility for managing their time and staying on top of their work. For Sienna, that meant waking herself up, attending Masterclasses and Workshops, planning when she would study and taking responsibility for completing her work.
It was only once she entered the working world that she recognised how transferable those habits had become.
“Going into the working world felt surprisingly familiar because of that,” Sienna explains. “A manager can give me a task and trust me to complete it without constantly checking on me, and that independence is something I genuinely believe Koa helped develop in me.”
Since leaving school, Sienna says she has been complimented several times on being hardworking, independent and able to get things done. While she recognises that these qualities are part of who she is, she gives Koa a lot of credit for strengthening them.
Even seemingly small parts of everyday school life – managing deadlines on Google Classroom or communicating during an online class – have become skills she now uses regularly at work.
And one particular Life Orientation lesson has travelled with her too. Sienna gives a special mention to Joy, whose help with her CV has continued to pay off well beyond school: “I’ve received so many compliments on it while applying for jobs!”
What has Sienna learnt since finishing school?
Perhaps Sienna’s biggest lesson since matric has been that there isn’t one correct timeline for what comes next.
Because she wasn’t following the traditional university route, she initially felt pressure to be doing something immediately after school. Looking back, however, she’s grateful that her plans didn’t happen exactly when she expected them to.
The time has allowed her to work, earn her own income, build experience, try new things and, importantly, get to know herself outside of being a student.
“This year has taught me that there really is no need to rush,” Sienna says.
It’s a perspective that has changed the way she thinks about having a plan. For Sienna, knowing the direction you’d like to move in doesn’t mean needing every step mapped out from the beginning – and a change in timing doesn’t mean giving up on the goal.
What would Sienna say to students who don’t have it all figured out?
For any current Koa student feeling behind because they don’t know exactly what they want to do after school, Sienna’s advice is reassuringly practical: having a direction is enough. You don’t need to have your entire life figured out at 18 or 19.
And, in true Sienna fashion, she puts it into perspective with a little humour: “I sometimes don’t even know what I want to eat that day, so expecting myself to have the next forty years perfectly planned is a little ridiculous!”
Instead, she encourages students who have something they want to pursue to go after it at their own pace. Plans can change without the goal disappearing.
For Sienna, what matters more is what you choose to do with the time in front of you.
“Thinking endlessly about the future won’t determine whether it happens – what you choose to do today is what actually moves you towards it.”
And fittingly, that lesson brings her back to something she first practised at Koa: “Work at your own pace, take responsibility for where you want to go, and trust yourself enough to get there.”
As Sienna continues building towards that first step onboard, we’re so grateful to see how her independence, determination and willingness to follow her own timeline continue to shape the path ahead – and even more grateful that she chose to share this next chapter with us.
Explore more stories from Koa alumni and see where their journeys have taken them after school.
