SCU Coffs Campus scholarship student Dylan Berger is encouraging Indigenous young people to apply to study at university.

A Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge with Honours student, Dylan’s family has Gumbaynggirr, Dhanggati, Yuin and Biripai heritage.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

“I started studying at Southern Cross University Coffs Harbour campus in 2014, but I picked up the pace of my studies to become a fulltime student in 2015,” he said.

“During that time Indigenous Australian Student Services (IASS) was the central hub for when I needed help with tutoring, scholarship applications, navigating University information and contacts and things like that.

“They’ve done a great job in providing an Indigenous community environment within the University space.

“It made the transition to studying at University less drastic, and helped me a lot with comfortability with the organisation and familiarity with how things worked and the help I needed.”

Throughout his time at SCU, Dylan has been able to access scholarship opportunities to support his education journey.

“I received two scholarships, one for $5000 across the year and another book bursary scholarship and these helped relieve that financial burden that you have as a young uni student trying to figure out how you’re going to pay for things.

“The first degree I completed was my Bachelor of Indigenous studies, then I went back and studied my honours year, called the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge with Honours which I am about to graduate from.”

Dylan suggests that all students investigate the scholarship opportunities available to them.

“Sometimes when people are just leaving school or have been out of study for a while, they tend to assume that all scholarship money and lanes of support have already been filled completely, but in reality, there is often unallocated scholarship money that needs to be spent.

“My advice to every young student is to go for every scholarship you’re eligible for – you don’t want to get a few years down the track and realise you left options on the table that could have made your study experience more manageable.”

“My other advice is that there is no shame in deciding to start studying part-time first to see how you go.

“Some people can go straight into full time study, but for other people it can be a bit overwhelming straight off the bat, so it’s not a shameful thing to ease into studying part time.

“Also, the pathway programs like Preparing for Success Program (PSP) and Transition to Uni are both very effective at helping students get ready for university study and gain a place in their chosen degree, but even after studying those there is no hard or fast rule whether you have to study full time or part-time, it’s about doing what you’re comfortable with.”

By Andrea FERRARI