When First Nations people receive scholarships, it is a circuit breaker - Mary MacKillop Today

When First Nations people receive scholarships, it is a circuit breaker

Tegan was at breaking point.

She was juggling work, study and raising her three young children including managing her eldest son’s cancer treatment.

Tegan was losing hope of completing her tertiary studies to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher…

Until her pressure to work full time while studying was lifted — and that’s because of the Mary MacKillop Today First Nations Scholarship she received, made possible by you!

Against all odds, Tegan is now a teacher. She is the first in her family to complete university.

Tegan shared, “When First Nations people receive scholarships, it is a circuit breaker.

Without Mary MacKillop Today’s Scholarship, I don’t know how I would’ve made it this far. The Scholarship helped me survive as a student with three young kids. The financial support took the pressure off so I could pay my mortgage, buy food, petrol… All the things you have to keep up with when you go back to university full-time.”

Here are some key facts about the unique Scholarship support you can make possible:

  • Needs-based Scholarship – where opportunities go to the people who need it most.
  • Education pathways – people can complete a certificate or a diploma so they can be better prepared to tackle a bachelor’s degree in the future.
  • Flexible – people have the flexibility to use their Scholarship funds in the way they need it, whether that’s to pay for childcare or to buy a laptop.
  • Not bound by time – students can take extended leave when needed, because Graduation is the outcome we want for students.
  • Cultural connections – students can study in a culturally safe environment at carefully selected tertiary institutions that have strong Indigenous units with services to support a student’s whole journey.
  • Access to strong partnerships – extensive consultations with students, mentors, and supervisors from First Nations tertiary education centres.

Please join us as a growing force for change and donate now to help carry on Mary’s lifechanging legacy so that all people can flourish.

Warm regards,

Jane Woolford
Chief Executive Officer