MORE than a decade of volunteering has earned year twelve student Alisha Rowden an early offer to university.<\/p>\n
The Victory Christian College pupil will next year join La Trobe University Bendigo to study a bachelor of education (primary) as part of the institution\u2019s Aspire Program.<\/p>\n
The program gives conditional offers to young people involved in community, leadership and volunteer roles before they even sit their VCE exams.<\/p>\n
Ms Rowden\u2019s university studies will build on her 11 years volunteering with the Venus Bay Surf Lifesaving Club and working with young people in Life Saving Victoria\u2019s Nippers program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose to study primary education because helping with the Nippers program brought out how much I enjoy working with children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year seeing the children in the Nippers program come back older and more skilful, and watching them grow throughout the season, is really rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Rowden said it felt \u201creally good\u201d to be recognised for her volunteering, and the early offer encouraged her to push through challenging times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like knowing that people have trust in me. It makes me feel like a leader, and has also helped me mature a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing in and out of lockdown has been really hard but now that I know I have this Aspire offer, it is giving me more motivation to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Rowden is one of 117 regional Victorian students to so far receive an early offer to La Trobe, with Aspire Program applications still open until 17 September.<\/p>\n
A total 515 early offers have been sent out and La Trobe deputy vice-chancellor Professor Richard Speed said they could give students some assurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all feeling for this cohort of year 12 students, who have completed the final two years of their secondary schooling in really challenging circumstances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough this won\u2019t replace the hours of missed face-to-face classes, or cancelled social and sporting events, it will hopefully give them a bit more certainty for their future, at a time when many are feeling anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than a decade of volunteering has earned year twelve student Alisha Rowden an early offer to university. The Victory Christian College pupil will next year join La Trobe University Bendigo to study a bachelor of education (primary) as part of the institution\u2019s Aspire Program. The program gives conditional offers to young people involved in […]<\/p>\n