I loved being on campus and having all my study spots, it felt like home.”įollowing her graduation, Maddi earned herself a place on the 'wall of fame' at her old high school. So while it was amazing to be graduating, I was sad for it to be over. I made it! There were some difficult and very late nights at the library before exams, but I made it through and made some of my best friends to this day. Maddi feels privileged to be learning at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown, but is keen to take up a placement at one of the University's regional hospital affiliations. If I'd moved up without a scholarship, I would have had to find a job straight away, adding to the stress, and it would have been very borderline as to whether I would have stuck with uni or not.”īeing able to focus on her studies, build her network and her confidence, helped Maddi get to her graduation day and look back on her time with fondness. “That adjustment period was quite difficult. Maddi was homesick for the first few months of being in Sydney and says that the scholarship helped relieve some of the stress at that time in her life. “It’s the little things, like being able to socialise and meet new friends, but it all added up to me being a happy, thriving person at uni. The scholarship money didn’t just account for all the big moving expenses – it also had a huge impact on Maddi’s ability to settle into her new life. Just knowing I could take it to uni and it wasn’t going to die within the first 30 minutes was a game changer.” “I remember getting a new laptop and it was the first time I’d had something so shiny and new. One of the first things she bought was a laptop. It enabled her to confidently move away from home for the first time, knowing she could pay her rent and buy the things she needed for her studies while she got settled in a big city. In Maddi’s words, the scholarship was her ‘saviour’. ![]() “When I realised my application had been successful, it was such a relief. I saw the words E12 and I thought, ‘Oh, I'm going to pass out’. ![]() I just remember seeing an email and then my heart raced. “I finished about six o'clock, and I checked my phone for the first time in hours. Maddi is now undertaking a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Sydney It was the end of a long shift when she found out about the success of her University of Sydney E12 Scholarship application. When I found science class, it was like I’d found my thing,” she says with a smile.īy age 17, Maddi had moved on from her bakery job to a role at the local pharmacy – something more aligned with her scientific interests. “I think my path to uni started with how comfortable I felt at school and how good learning felt. It’s clear when talking to Maddi that while she had the emotional support of those around her, her own determination, love of science and strong work ethic would have seen her succeed in her mission to get to university. I think they recognised my love of a challenge and fostered my ambition to continue studying beyond high school,” she says. “My science teachers were really supportive. While university wasn’t always on the cards for her high school peers, Maddi’s science teachers quickly noted her capability and her passion. ![]() It’s got some of the best beaches I’ve seen so I did a lot of outdoor activities like camping and snorkelling. “It’s a really pretty small town where everyone knows each other. Maddi grew up in Moruya on the NSW south coast, a small town that she talks about with affection. I knew that if I was to move away from home and do uni properly, I had to start saving and have my own money.” “Uni was never a given for high school leavers down the coast, so I knew I had to make it happen for myself. “It was definitely saving that was always in the back of my mind back when I was 13,” reflects Maddi. While many teenagers with a weekend job spend their pay as soon as it hits their bank accounts, Maddi Eveleigh was so determined to pursue a science degree, that at 13 years old she sought out a job in a local bakery, knowing that saving her own money was the only way she was likely to afford her university dreams.
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