A transformative career change: Lucky’s inspiring story

He might go by the nickname ‘Lucky’, but Lakshal Perera’s story is about more than good fortune. Perera’s journey has taken him from a childhood split between Sri Lanka and Australia, through to a PhD in Medical Radiation Physics and a successful career as a wedding photographer. Today, thanks to his work ethic, grit and openness to a career change, Lucky Perera is inspiring the next generation as a passionate and beloved science teacher. 

Perera’s tale should be one of optimism; it shows us that it’s never too late for a career change or to figure out where our passions lie. Sitting down with host Dom Hennequin for Deakin’s latest Stories of Wonder podcast, Perera shares his career change journey and what it’s like discovering a greater sense of identity and purpose through teaching. 

Childhood and university 

The great constant in Perera’s life has been change.  

Born in Australia, his family moved to Sri Lanka when he was just a baby, before returning to Australia when he was seven. With so much change already, Perera struggled to find an identity or sense of belonging. 

‘It was not an easy time,’ he says. ‘The eighties in Australia was not a particularly progressive place, and I went to a school that was predominantly white. I had a pretty strong accent, I was bullied because of my accent, because of my appearance. So actually, there was this conscious attempt – or maybe it was unconscious at the time – of just trying to assimilate, just trying to fit in.’ 

It took time for the self-described ‘shy, timid and awkward kid’ to grow into himself. It would still be years before he’d decide that science education was a good career, but young Perera’s passions for physics started to blossom as a result of his own education.  

‘I always loved physics at school,’ Perera says. ‘I had a great teacher. Explaining how the universe works, it just felt like there was this natural affinity to it. I’d always been this really curious child and I had all of these books on science and space and I’d wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid. Most people pass that phase when they’re about seven or eight, but I was still there at about 15 when I realised I was actually going to be too tall.’ 

Perera’s growing love of physics drew him into an engineering and physics double degree at the University of Wollongong, followed by a master’s and PhD in Medical Radiation Physics . This, though, is just another step in Perera’s journey of life and career changes. 

From PhD to Photography 

The phrase ‘life is what happens while you’re making other plans’ might as well have been said about Lucky Perera. After his PhD, Perera took up a three-year stint as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at QUT in Brisbane before deciding to move to Melbourne with partner Kristen. But, while he zigged toward a career in science, his professional life quickly zagged. 

‘I actually applied for a job at a research center in Melbourne and didn’t get it,’ Perera says. ‘It was the first time in my life that I hadn’t got a job that I’d applied for, and I was like, oh man, what am I going to do?’ 

Encouraged by his partner Kristen, Perera pivoted towards his first career change and followed his passion for photography. The career move into wedding photography, while showing off his skills behind the lens, also gave Perera a chance to return to those childhood questions of identity, belonging and what it means to be ‘different’. 

‘There was very much a focus on attractive, white, heterosexual couples – that was who the industry showed,’ Perera says. ‘Kristen and I got married about a year before that and when we were looking around for ideas, I didn’t see anyone that looked like me. And I think that was a bit of an eye opener that there was a gap in the market.’ 

Deciding on a career change 

Wedding photography, says Perera, also included a strong human connection. ‘It wasn’t transactional in any way; it wasn’t just about the money. I love spending time with these people.’  

So, when covid hit and in-person industries like photography got put on hold, Perera had a moment to think about the human connections that he’d been missing out on himself – particularly, spending time with his young daughter. 

‘My daughter Vega, she loved playing soccer, and I’d been thinking, oh my God, I’m missing out on being able to take her to her games because I’m shooting weddings on Saturdays,’ Perera says. ‘It gave me time to reflect on what my life looked like, and did I want to miss every Saturday for the rest of my life? I think the answer that I came to was no.’ 

With the unwavering support of his partner Kristen – another constant in Lucky Perera’s story – he decided on a career change, becoming a physics teacher (though continuing on as a wedding photographer). It’s an obvious career change, in hindsight, combining that formative love of science and transferable skills with the chance to keep making a positive impact on people.  

‘I’d always loved teaching – I’d done a little bit of teaching when I was at uni and I really loved getting young people interested in science,’ Perera says. ‘That was my jam, I really loved it. And living regionally, you recognise that you bring a skill set that is not very common for that part of the world. Lots of regional high schools don’t have access to physics teachers.’ 

Now based in Kyneton in rural Victoria (about an hour and a half from Melbourne), Perera decided on a Master of Teaching (Primary and Secondary) at Deakin University, choosing to study online so he could still be around his family.  

Approaching career change: life as a teacher 

These days, Perera is settled into life at Kyneton High School, teaching everything from Year 7 digital technologies classes to Year 12 physics while still continuing his other career in wedding photography. And while the later in life career change has clearly been the right choice for Perera personally, it’s also a great opportunity for the students he teaches. Understanding life in the margins, Perera’s mission goes beyond just helping his students learn – he’s helping them grow. 

‘These young people are not just the sum of their behaviors,’ he says. ‘If you look at just their behaviors in isolation, you’re completely ignoring the context of where they come from and the experiences they’ve had. So, I guess I teach kids in the context of teaching the subject, but it’s like, I want you to grow up to be a rounded young person that has options and opportunities in life. And how do I teach you to become a functional member of society?’ 

Whether as a student, photographer or teacher, this sense of growth and identity seems everywhere in Lucky Perera’s life. On approaching another career change and returning to study for a Master of Teaching, Perera talks about the importance of Deakin University’s focus on those greater ideals, too.  

The course taught him plenty about pedagogy, but also delved into some bigger, more important lessons about how to approach privilege and advantage in school. 

‘I was like, oh, okay, this is going to filter out a whole bunch of people that are not into this, while anyone who’s maybe not aware of it now will become aware of it, and the next generation of teachers can be more inclusive and more supportive and more understanding of all sorts of kids, regardless of where they come from and their backgrounds,’ he says.

The freedom to choose: why it’s never too late for a transformative career change 

For someone whose professional life has taken its share of sharp turns, Lucky Perera has never considered himself a risk taker or a long-term thinker. But, guided by a massive sense of empathy for the world around him and a willingness to embrace change, he’s managed to navigate another successful career change. 

While teaching may not be his calling forever (he reflects on how his world seems to change every decade or so), Perera’s story should be evidence for all of us that it’s never too late for a career change if we want it.  

‘The way I approach it with my students is at the end of school, it’s not about whether you go into university or whether you go into being a tradie or whether you go into doing X, Y, or Z, it’s about getting to that point and being able to choose,’ he says. ‘Give yourself opportunities, give yourself the freedom to choose.’