Grants of $2-4,000 have been made to seven Cootamundra school leavers to help them with studies at university or in the trade of their choice.
The grants have been made by the Cootamundra and District Country Education Foundation (CEF), established in 2008 to provide financial support to youth from Cootamundra, Wallendbeen and Stockinbingal to allow them to pursue further education that would have otherwise been beyond their means financially.
The grants received by the seven successful applicants will help over the next two years with education-related expenses including campus accommodation, trade tools, laptops, textbooks and transport.
The seven students are :
- Justin Sheedy, a double degree in sound design and engineering at the JMC Academy, a Sydney-based college specialising in entertainment and creative industries;
- Ky White, an apprentice with Ben Tregear Electrical;
- Briana Hefren, a double degree at the Australian National University, where she is enrolled in arts, social sciences, business and science;
- Jake Badcock, left school at the end of Year 11 and has an automotive apprenticeship with Inland Truck Centres;
- Emily Potter, certificate III in fitness at University of Wollongong College;
- Mathew Friend, bachelor of software engineering and bachelor of business infomatics at University of Canberra;
- Will Friend, bachelor of information technology at University of Canberra.
Briana Hafren said she had grown up around psychology, with some of her family having been life coaches or psychologists, but rather than be a clinical psychologist she would like to apply it in a management role, so she chose to do business to broaden her options.
"The grant makes a massive difference, I've already got a hefty accommodation payment up front so having that grant to cover that was really valuable," she said.
Will Friend said the defining moment when he first got into IT was when his Mum was working on a computer and he was trying to help her fix it.
"She kept telling me I couldn't do it, and from that day I was just determined!"
Justin Sheedy said he had had a few experiences with sound equipment in the past, and "just enjoy it", as well as taking a leaf from his brother's book, who is working in sound, doing a lot of live performances and also the live debates in Parliament House.
Matthew Friend's choice of software engineering and business informatics springs from his enjoyment of "building stuff", and his ambition to start up a business in the technology area.
