Oscar Wang

What is your study journey? 

I did agriculture in high school on a whim and I got hooked onto it. After that, I decided that I wanted to study agriculture.

I chose plant production because I was always interested in botany, although I do enjoy how flexible this degree is.

It really showcases how science can be applied in real world situations, considers social and environmental constraints and has a tangible goal to work towards (make food).

I find that it’s a lot easier to get involved and enjoy science in this sense.

What was it about studying at Sydney that appealed to you?

The University of Sydney was close enough for me to commute from home, and is one of the few universities in Sydney that offers this degree.

Doing the degree at the University of Sydney also allowed me to pick up a second major in economics, which is super useful because it gives you an edge by being skilled in two different areas.

What have you enjoyed most about studying agriculture?

The field trips and offers you get. You get so many opportunities to travel (I've been to Indonesia and Laos with the uni) from either scholarships (which aren’t hard to apply for) or just subjects through the units you can enrol in.

Before COVID, every semester I'd receive lots of offers to travel around Australia or overseas to work or volunteer for places. Shoutout to our placement coordinator for sending out those emails!

Agriculture is also a nice tight cohort. Since it's just a small group, we get along well and we all know each other.

The AgSoc is really cool, and as the current treasurer I can say that we all try our best to host networking nights and fun events (except during Covid ☹) The coordinators and professors are all really cool people as well.

What do you hope to do upon graduating? What career do you hope to pursue?

Upon graduating, I’m hoping to find work in the hydroponics or research industries. Either is fine, hydroponics research would be extra spicy (if you're reading this and recruiting, please message me!).

The best part of doing agriculture is that there are a countless number of positions this degree prepares you for.

From basic biology research, site management, soil testing, policy making, agribusiness consultant etc. there are so many jobs in an office, in the field or in a lab – it's crazy how many opportunities there are!

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about studying agriculture at the University of Sydney?

Go for it!

I’ll admit a lot of the degree is focused on classroom learning. While we do have field days and a lot of excursions, there’s not a whole lot of 'hands on' agriculture work to be done. Once you're in your second and third years you get many opportunities to do placements which fills this void.

If you’re looking for a degree that takes you straight into the field, Armidale, WSU or an agriculture college would suit you much better. But if you're more interested in the uni's research excellence, being able to undertake an additional major or you just live in the Sydney area, studying agriculture at the University of Sydney is a great decision.