Growing up on a farm in Sydney, the daughter of refugee/migrant parents, Monika Lemajic said higher education was never really on her radar.
“My parents wanted me to finish high school and get a job, but there was never any kind of expectation that I should go to uni, get a degree, anything like that,” she said.
“I was terrible in high school, and by the end of grade 12 I still didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do.”
In the end, Lemajic's method for choosing a career path was to let the universe decide for her.
“They had this big book of jobs at school, with information about what you had to study for each career and so on.
“So, I flicked through the book and put my finger on a random page and it said ‘naval architect’.
“I didn’t know what that was – I grew up on a farm, I could barely even swim. But I never hesitated, I just said, yep, okay, I’m going to be a naval architect.”
Lemajic’s career has now seen her work as a naval architect, assistant dockmaster, and project manager, and she is currently the Asset Operations Manager (Marine) for the Port Authority of NSW.
Starting out, she spent two years studying an Advanced Diploma in Naval Architecture at TAFE in Melbourne, before going on to study her Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) at the University of Technology in Sydney.
By the time she was in her mid-20s, she was working at Sydney’s Garden Island, the largest dry dock in the southern hemisphere.
“I was working as a dock naval architect, designing the docking cradles and doing stability calculations for the ships being taken out of the water for maintenance,” she said.
“That was when I really found my love for it, in that practicality of working with ships in dry dock, doing the stability calculations for the cradles.”
Lemajic also quickly realised that, while she was in a stable job, she was also in a very niche area with few avenues for further advancement.
“I didn’t know what kind of change I wanted, but I knew I would want one soon; I wanted to expand my knowledge and diversify my skillset.
“Around that time, I came across the Australian Maritime College and I called them to ask for advice: What could I do? What options were available?”
“They basically said, yep, we have a course for you!”
Lemajic enrolled in a Bachelor of Applied Science through the AMC, specialising in Maritime Technology Management, completing it by correspondence in a year-and-a-half, thanks to her previous degree.
Her new qualification allowed her to move into project management work, eventually leading her to her current role, which pulls all of her accumulated skills together into something more strategic and big-picture.
She also caught the eye of the prestigious Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, who offered her a place in their Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics (the “Blue MBA”).
And she spent two years as president and chair of WISTA Australia – the national branch of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association – where she worked to promote equality and remove barriers for women entering the industry.
She has even written a children’s picture book, Emma Sails Sydney, which is a counting book, dedicated to her niece, that helps children learn about the different boats they might find around the harbour.
“Removing the barriers to entry is important for me and I want to explore other ideas for education in the future,” she said.
“I basically picked this random career and I still succeeded at it, and I want that to be an inspiration to others.
“There’s no failure, just an opportunity to pivot and change direction a bit. Life isn’t pass-or-fail, it’s all just part of the path.”
Written by Tim Martain for Alumni Magazine Issue 55, 2024.
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Top of page: Monica Lemajic on the deck of the Emma Maersk in Hamburg, Germany | Photo: supplied