More than 265 excited Students with Potential (SWP) award recipients and their families attended a celebration at QUT Kelvin Grove on Saturday 24th July to recognise their achievements at school, be inspired about their future potential, and to enjoy QUT Open Day.
Leanne Harvey, Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar, and Dr Theresa Lauf, Director, Equity congratulated the recipients and shared a little of their own journeys. This year there were 645 recipients from 26 different Widening Participation Program partnership high schools.
“It was really wonderful to meet and deliver a congratulatory speech to the Year 10s. I come from a tiny country town and was first in my family to go to university. I didn’t believe I could go to uni and I couldn’t ever have imagined ending up as a Vice President of a university! It’s important that students know how many people believe in them,” Ms Harvey said.
Dr Lauf acknowledged the hard work of the Year 11 and 12 students and thanked teachers for nominating their students and parents for supporting their children.
“It was really inspiring and touching to see so many excited students with their families. It is an excellent opportunity for them to hear the Student Ambassador stories and realise that one of the best things about uni is that everyone finds their tribe. I wish them well in their future. I hope to see some of them around QUT,” Dr Lauf said.
One of the recipients was Tahnee Landers who is a Year 11 student from Bray Park State High School who said she was grateful for being selected as an award recipient.
“It was great to see my hard work being recognised. I found today engaging and it is wonderful that QUT is very involved with my high school,” she said.
Her mum, Kath Landers, was equally proud of her daughter’s achievement. “We’ve looked at other unis and today was really good to come to the celebration and have a look at a QUT campus. Tahnee is very interested in a QUT Science course. I am so proud of her achievement."
The students were nominated by their teachers, and the aim of the award is to encourage all capable students to complete post-school study at some time in their lives.
The SWP Award includes a certificate and a $100 gift voucher. Award recipients will continue to receive this award annually if they remain enrolled at school.
The award started in 2008 and more than 7500 awards have been distributed since its inception.
The SWP Award program is part of QUT’s Widening Participation Program with a focus on debunking common myths surrounding university and TAFE; predominantly around affordability, achievement, and aspiration.
