Jazmin Carroll was a recipient of one of our Education Support Fund (ESF) Awards in 2018. The ESF award assisted her in starting a Diploma of Community Services with TAFE Gippsland.
As part of her ongoing studies for the Diploma, Jazmin has decided to research and develop a community initiative relating to a priority within our community organisation.
“Because of the experience I had of the ESF, I had a discussion with the Community Foundation about exploring the idea of creating an alumni network for all the ESF recipients,” said Jazmin.
“The Community Foundation agreed that it would be a great community initiative to explore as part of my studies, and I began to draft up a letter and survey so I could connect with recipients.”
The ESF was set up in 2013, to grant financial support to young and mature aged students who are transitioning into third level education. It has now given awards to 72 local people totalling $130,000. Jazmin hopes that these 72 past recipients will be interested in staying connected through an online group, where they can share their insights and support each other.
Jazmin believes an alumni or peer support network for all of the recipients of the ESF awards, all of whom studied or lived within our district, would have great benefits such as:
- Continuing to maintain strong connections with young people from our district who are studying and starting off their journeys into the workforce.
- Giving recipients the ability to share skills and expertise, particularly in light of their shared experiences of the challenges of being a rural student.
- Supporting each other in the transition to third level, whether locally or in a metropolitan area.
“As rural young people, we have a unique perspective and sharing that might be helpful to each of us,” says Jazmin.
Jazmin has attached a link to a survey below to get all past ESF recipients input on this idea of forming an alumni network.
If you are a past ESF recipient, it would be great if you could please click on the link and complete the survey as soon as possible: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3Y9B23V
“Once I have received the results from the survey, I will do some additional research through interviewing those who are interested,” Jazmin concluded.
We look forward to hearing back from Jazmin and the ESF recipients to see if a network can be set up. Well done to Jazmin for taking up this initiative and reaching out both to us at the Community Foundation and the ESF recipients.