Financial hardship continues to be a barrier for many university students. As a recipient of the Â鶹ֱ²¥ Create Your Own Future Scholarship, Taylor Clark was able to complete her undergraduate studies and begin postgraduate studies with the aspiration of facilitating social change.<\/p>\n
Attending high school was never easy for Taylor Clark, who worked five nights a week to support herself. Although she had a burning ambition to study, she knew that achieving the marks to get into university was only half the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring high school, going to university wasn\u2019t something spoken about at home due to financial pressures,\u201d Taylor recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a single parent father who was in the military for the majority of my life and so money was definitely something that we worried about. I felt that university was something that I couldn\u2019t do and that was out of my reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor successfully applied for the Â鶹ֱ²¥ Create Your Own Future Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to students who have the potential to succeed in higher education, but are restricted by financial difficulties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the scholarship, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to study straight after high school. I would have had to work for a few years to provide enough money for basic living expenses before I could think about university,\u201d Taylor says.<\/p>\n
For many students like Taylor, attending university is a cause of great financial stress. Over 18 per cent of full-time Australian students regularly going without food or other necessities because they can\u2019t afford them, according to a 2012 report on university student finances by Universities Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Taylor was the first person in her family to attend university, choosing to study a Bachelor of Interior Architecture. The scholarship helped her purchase textbooks, a laptop and travel for research.<\/p>\n \u201cInterior architecture was at the time the perfect degree for me to study after high school. I had an eye for architecture: I enjoyed technical drawing and figuring out how things went together. I would also find myself hand-drawing designs to relax,\u201d Taylor says.<\/p>\n With financial pressures abated, Taylor has been able to volunteer in Fiji, become a Student Ambassador, get involved in the John Curtin Leadership Academy and ultimately graduate from Curtin with a Bachelor of Interior Architecture (Honours) in 2015.<\/p>\n Taylor has since decided to enrol in a Master of Human Rights at Curtin, aspiring to one day help empower and facilitate social change in developing communities around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent my final year of honours researching how design can empower those living in undeveloped countries. I then decided in my final year that my passion didn\u2019t lay in design itself, but rather the communities in which I was researching,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI would never be content or happy working a traditional high paying job while knowing that there is a large percentage of people that will continue to face hardship due to their geographic location.<\/p>\n \u201cI was given an incredible opportunity to attend university and gain a higher education. I somewhat feel that I was given that opportunity for a reason, and maybe it was to be different: to break the mould, to create change and to be the voice of those who don\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n