Written by James Holme
I am currently studying for an Undergraduate Certificate in Agricultural Studies, which is an alternative or adult entry pathway into the Bachelor of Agricultural Science.
Why have I chosen to study for my degree?
I was asked this a lot by friends and family, mainly because anybody starting further education as a mature student must be crazy!
Truth is though that at the age of 33 I had gone through a big change in my personal life and suddenly realised I wanted things to be different and to really take control of my life!
I had done things a little differently to the “normal” path in life- kind of in reverse if you would call it that, I had kids young with my first being born when I was just 20, I had been working consistently on the family farm for 14 years which is a huge stretch for any worker in modern-day Australia.
As mentioned, some things in life changed, and I found myself looking into further education as a way to fill a gap. After some research, I landed on an agricultural degree with future plans of studying a Master of Education with a focus on agriculture.
As many will know, this area has a major shortage of teachers with specialist skills in primary production, which is going to be a huge problem for agriculture in Australia going into the future!
There are several universities that offer agricultural degrees, but most are on-campus, this wasn’t an option for me so Charles Sturt and it’s distance education program was the clear winner!
So far, I have made the 9-hour trek to Wagga Wagga once for an intensive school for my Biology in Agriculture subject back in April and will be returning in August for a week for my Plant Production Systems subject.
When I came across the grants section of the Charles Sturt website, I didn’t think I would qualify for any of them but then the Intensive School Equity Grant caught my eye and once I had a read of the requirements I realised I could put in a submission.
The grant will certainly help me out with the incidental costs involved with the intensives; fuel, accommodation, and food aren’t cheap!
That and the fact that I need to leave my regular job to attend just adds to the stress, this extra money will take a little of the pressure off and allow me to focus on what is important- my studies!
Anybody who thinks they could use a little extra help should certainly apply; there is absolutely no shame in it; uni life is difficult enough without the worry of costs becoming a prohibitive factor.
Session two has just begun so now is the perfect time to get those applications in, this round closes on the 5th of August so get a move on with it!
Click here to find out more information on the Intensive School Equity Grant.
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