The Hidden Curriculum: How What’s Not Taught in Class Became My Most Valuable Learnings

Muskaanpreet Kaur was born in a rural area in Punjab and migrated to Australia in 2009 with her family.

Muskaanpreet is always striving to improve her communication skills by consistently interacting with different environments, cultures and experiences. Especially as she is fluent in Punjabi and studied this during her HSC through at the NSW School of Languages.

However, after identifying that her high school was in a low-socioeconomic region of Sydney, Muskaanpreet was able to continue her passion for communication, as well as business and leadership skills, by enrolling into UNSW through the Gateway Admission Pathway Program (GAPP) to complete a Bachelor of Economics and Commerce (2027).

This program gave Muskaanpreet the opportunity to connect with first-generation university students who shared similar stories, allowing her to realise the strength in her own voice and experiences

Being a participant on the GAPP enabled Muskaanpreet to acknowledge and understand the sensitive student concerns about their identity and cross-cultural heritages.

It was this profound sense of empathy that spurred Muskaanpreet on to becoming a Start@UNSW Peer Mentor for the recent commencing GAPP students in 2025. Enabling them to learn from her and provide them with the same sense of belonging that she had felt.

Muskaanpreet now mentors a range of students from low-socioeconomic, rural, migrant, LGBTQIA+, and other diverse backgrounds and has received formal training in mentoring and peer engagement but also credits her own unique journey to bridging cultural gaps and overcoming educational barriers by making the most of every opportunity.

These experiences have shaped Muskaanpreet into the person she is today, and going into her 2nd year at UNSW, have opened up a world of opportunity beyond textbooks, towards leadership, lived experience storytelling, and community-led impact

Muskaanpreet shared her keen insights with the UNSW Business School EDI team about what it means for undergraduate students today, to seek not only academic success, but a university experience that acknowledges and values the entirety of their lived experiences.

No one tells you this when you start university, but some of the most powerful things you’ll learn aren’t listed on any syllabus. They happen in quiet conversations, hard days, and unexpected failures.

As a fresh high school leaver in 2023 I was excited to start my journey at UNSW studying a Bachelor of Economics and Commerce (double major). Transitioning from school, I was hyped to study more of the content I am most passionate about and to extend my knowledge within these areas.

I used to think the most important lessons at university would come from lectures, textbooks, and assignments. Don’t get me wrong, they’re super important, but looking back, the moments that shaped me the most never had a course code attached to them.

Let me explain …

Attending University is the first step, you go to your lectures, participate in tutorials, and complete assignments.

University coursework is important; it taught me relevant knowledge that I can keep for the rest of my life. I can apply this to my life, future internships and my future career opportunities.

However, as I progressed through UNSW, I realised there's a lot more to learn at uni than just course-related knowledge. Let me share with you some of the hidden uni curriculum fundamentals that I learnt outside of the classroom.

UNSW’s GAPP

It was through the Gateway Admission Pathway and Gateway Winter Program that I first connected with UNSW in 2022.

Coming from a low-SES background and aspiring to be a woman in business, I doubted if I could make it.

However, the Gateway program not only provided me with support throughout the admissions process, but it also introduced me to workshops, mentors, and the wider UNSW Business School community that genuinely enabled me to understand the coursework of my degree beyond the numbers.

My overall experience through these workshops made me feel so much more connected to the UNSW community and really made me certain that UNSW was the right place for me.

Thanks to the Gateway program, I was linked with UNSW initiatives such as Career AI and the MyBcom platform, allowing me to further develop my skills beyond the classroom.

From these initiatives, I learned that seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness, and that I didn’t have to navigate my university journey alone. There are heaps of amazing resources provided by UNSW that are available for all students and using them is what enhances the university experience and gives you that competitive edge.

From this, I knew I wasn’t just going to survive uni, I was being set up to thrive by being provided the resources that allowed me to succeed.

Support Networks

At first, I was intimidated by the idea of networking with people from such different fields, unsure of what to ask or worried about sounding clueless.

But I took the leap, adopting the mindset that every conversation, even if not directly industry-related, offered something valuable. It also helped me learn not to limit myself, there is always something to gain from a conversation even if it’s not about you directly.

For instance, I’ve learnt the values of courage and pursuing your true passions from professionals in totally different career paths than me, all thanks to Co-NNECTIONS.

I quickly learned that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you view them as learning opportunities. The lesson I learnt through this experience was to seize every opportunity, whether it’s handed to you or you have to chase it down.

And to always look for ways to deepen your understanding of the world whether it relates to your current field of study, career aspirations, or even if it is completely left field of what you think is authentically you to push you out of your comfort zone.

Academic & Extra-Curricular Achievements

This is because UNSW recognises these interpersonal skills are just as valuable as academic achievements. I believe my self-confidence, patience, mentoring, networking, empathy for others and my passion for public speaking, also provides a skillset that can be utilised in many different scenarios post-graduation.

Whether it’s managing shifts at work in between lectures or navigating difficult customer interactions, these experiences have helped shape me into an adaptable and capable future graduate.

UNSW also fosters soft skill development through its countless opportunities to engage from group assignments that challenge students to manage diverse perspectives, to events hosted by societies and the UNSW Business School, where students are encouraged to attend networking nights, panel discussions, and speaker events that push them outside of their comfort zones.

For me, even the everyday moments like speaking up in a challenging tutorial, reaching out to a peer after class for advice, or navigating a complex group task, become an opportunity to develop professional confidence and work within diverse cultural settings.

By embracing these academic and extra-curricular experiences, I wasn't just preparing for exams, I was developing the kind of real-world skills that would prepare me for a global business career and enable me to stand out from the crowd.

A few key standouts:

1. Group projects also taught me more about leadership than any theory ever could.
2. Rejections taught me resilience.
3. A single conversation with a mentor or experience can change your entire career direction
4. None of this was graded—but all of it mattered.

University taught me how to read a balance sheet and write a business report. But what really prepared me for life? Learning how to advocate for myself, ask for help, and bounce back when things didn’t go to plan.