Scholarship recipient headed for Law

With strong motivation to succeed and an interest in the arts, scholarship recipient Katarina recently completed VCE and achieved an ATAR of 93.45, placing her in the top 7% of students in the state. She’s been accepted into her first-preference course, a double degree in Law (Honours)/Arts at Monash University.

Completing Year 12 during the pandemic presented many challenges. With the abrupt transition to remote learning, Katarina practiced some techniques to stay focused: nighttime study sessions on the front porch, paired with her lockdown hobby of home workouts, helped her push through.

“I had to keep reminding myself of the main goal. I knew that if I wanted to get into law, I had to put in the work.”

Katarina describes Western Chances’ support as an anchor, motivating her throughout the year.

“Western Chances has made a huge impact on my life. The support from them meant a lot to me during VCE. Their belief in me gave me confidence and motivation to keep pursuing my goals.”

Through Western Chances, Katarina took part in personal development opportunities, such as VCE summer school and the Trinity College Young Leaders Program (YLP).

“Both programs helped me develop personally, gain confidence, and strengthened my communication and leadership skills.”

Her favourite program, the Trinity YLP, she describes as “life changing”:

“Meeting new friends from different cultural backgrounds was inspiring. We developed beautiful friendships and bonds, which made the learning experience even better. The lessons I learnt from Trinity YLP I use in day-to-day life. I’m very grateful to have had such an amazing opportunity and will forever treasure the experience.”

Alongside financial support for school supplies, her Western Chances scholarship has allowed Katarina to pursue her interest in drama:

“The funding from Western Chances meant I could go to acting classes at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

She has since built on her love for acting: “I’ve now done courses at Greentree Acting school, Western Edge Youth Arts, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and was recently in a commercial for Western Water in Sunbury.”

Katarina has big dreams and hopes her future is filled with travel: “I hope to work with others from around the world and travel as much as I can. I’d also love to help others the same way Western Chances has helped me.”