Coming from an immigrant family with both parents currently in low-paying culinary occupations in regional Queensland, I would not have imagined being able to come to the University of Queensland without the help of the scholarship. The scholarship has allowed the content of my worries to be not of how I was going to manage my tight budget but of how to start my upcoming assignment. The financial support from Grace has been nothing short of a blessing.

My scholarship has helped by allowing me to study without the worry of working to be able to keep my position here at Grace, helping me focus on my uni work and this community. For me the best thing about Grace is the community, I love my fellow Gracies. All of the events we have on at Grace are fun and bring this great sense of connection and relationship between everyone at college. I just enjoy hanging out with this great group of people I live with.

I am someone who has dealt with financial hardship for a long time, and with parents who are separated with my dad overseas and my mum in NSW, it is hard to receive that consistent financial support. Given other personal financial situations, I myself am paying for my Grace fees with my savings from work; and working while studying is very hard to do to accumulate the needed fees for Grace. This scholarship helped me immensely as it meant I could take more time to focus on my academics and enjoy the college environment, without having to dedicate so much time working. It relieved a huge level of stress off my shoulders and brought so much joy to me and my family

The scholarship helped me to focus on my studies and I felt relieved and grateful that I could enjoy myself without worrying about finances. My studies are going really well, I am enjoying my courses very much and I haven’t felt too overwhelmed this year.