Julia Truong knows just how important emotional and financial backing can be when you’re a struggling student.
The 21-year-old St Albans resident received a Western Chances scholarship every year from 2008 to 2013, which helped her finish high school and graduate, with honours, from Melbourne University last year.
She has since set up her own events business, JT Production Management, and now counts Western Chances as one of her clients.
“I was living in a very small flat in Footscray, sleeping in the lounge room because I didn’t have my own bedroom and I was studying on a little table,” Ms Truong recalls.
“I couldn’t afford anything. I worked a lot part-time to try and keep up, but that didn’t allow me much time to study. I was in a very stressful position and was lucky that one of my teachers noticed … and she nominated me for the scholarship. It was an amazing opportunity, to have that ongoing support.
“I’ve come full circle with [Western Chances], from being a student who struggled to pay for textbooks to having their support and, now, being contracted to look after their events.”
Western Chances is a not-for-profit organisation that has helped more than 1700 young people achieve their goals. Now it will be able to help out 15 more thanks to a $10,000 Optus grant that will be used to buy recipients laptops and software.
Ms Truong says the additional funding will be a blessing to the successful students. “They have similar backgrounds to me and they can’t be on an equal playing field at school with other students because of financial hardships.
The scholarships give them the chance to have a shot at what schooling can give them.”
