Built to Rise: From Accounting Student to Respected Lecturer

As a BCom Accounting student, Deidre was not just among the first in her family to pursue this path — she was among the first in her community. There were very few chartered accountants who came from where she did, and even fewer women.

When she hit walls, she couldn't phone someone who'd been exactly where she was. What she had instead were good mentors, a tight peer group, and a sense of shared mission.

"We were a good group of students from similar backgrounds. We were on a mission — we'd push each other to study harder, meet at the study halls. When you got tired, someone was next to you to push you along."

She firmly believes that technical ability alone did not determine who finished. Some of the sharpest students she studied alongside never qualified.

"They were sometimes even better than me at the technical aspects. But they just couldn't get through the tough times. Those are the ones that make it."

Being the first carries a particular kind of self-doubt. There were moments when Deidre felt she didn't fit — the way she spoke, the way she carried herself — and those moments required growth that was sometimes uncomfortable.

"I could either focus on the limitations of where I come from, or I could focus on growing. What do I need to do better next time? How can I improve?"

Her answer to imposter syndrome wasn't conventional confidence. It was purpose. She was not doing this for herself alone, and that made the difference between quitting and continuing.

"It was the hope, the drive — the sense that more people from my community would be able to achieve this when they see me doing it. I wanted to be the role model I never had."

After qualifying, Deidre spent 15 years rising through the ranks at an audit firm — from trainee accountant to audit supervisor, to assistant manager, to manager. She was deeply invested in the firm's mission of growing the next generation of chartered accountants, and the people around her had become family.

Then COVID arrived and shifted something.

"The world seemed so different during and after COVID. To do well in this ever-changing, complex world, something more was needed, something more than the skills I currently had."

But her mind being ready and her heart being ready were two different things. It took nearly a year to prepare emotionally for the move — not out of fear of the new, but because she was leaving people and a purpose she had genuinely loved.

"If my heart wasn't properly prepared, I would have taken the first opportunity to go back to what was familiar. It was so important to me to make sure I was ready."

Around the same time, Deidre discovered park runs. She had always assumed, after failing to make her school's athletics team, that running was for sprinters. Parkrun — with its mix of ages, paces, prams, and walkers — dismantled that assumption.

Her first attempt was instructive. Convinced she needed to sprint, she went flat out for 150 metres and had nothing left. She adjusted: run at her own pace, go a little further each week, trust the process.

From 5K to 10K to 15K to 21K, and now preparing for her first 30K, the parallel to her professional life is not lost on her.

"In running, there are always uphills. There are going to be those tough moments where you question whether you can actually do this. The principle that running cemented for me is that you don't stop when you're tired. You stop when you cross the finish line."

Her journey from BCom Accounting student to lecturer reflects the long-term value of studying at Milpark. Deidre's relationship with Milpark goes back to 2010, when she was among the inaugural intake of the Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting programme. The institution played a significant enough role in her journey that, while still employed at her audit firm, she volunteered as a mentor for Milpark students.

When she eventually left and began looking at what came next, a lecturing position opened up at Milpark at just the right time. She has also contributed to curriculum development before she began teaching, bringing the perspective of someone who had lived the programme as a student and then spent 15 years applying its lessons in practice.

"I think about where I come from, the journey I've walked, and imagine what my life would have been had I given up. This is what Milpark is doing — taking principles and instilling them into students who can then do the same."

As a lecturer, Deidre is particularly attuned to students who are struggling not because they lack ability, but because they lack belief. She doesn't shy away from her own story in those moments.

"What you need to be successful is already inside of you. You have the qualities. You have what it takes. Believe in that. Trust it."

And for the student navigating real hardship — uncertainty at home, chaos outside — her message is direct:

"Let the dream be stronger than the fear and the uncertainty." For more information on the BCom Accounting programme and other qualifications at  Milpark Education.