The power of a role model

In your day to day life, you never know who you might influence. Your kindness may mean the world to someone and you don’t even know it. But when you support a scholarship student, you can be sure your gesture will have an impact. Change a life; maybe even future generations. And that’s the magic. As Kyh Samuelsson’s story demonstrates, for some, having big dreams isn’t enough. It is only through the generosity of others that they can even consider a university education.

The scholarship means so much to me

It’s one thing to know where you want to go in life. It’s quite another to be aware of what possibilities even exist and know others who have made the leap. For Kyh Samuelsson, who is the first in his family to go to university, the older kids in his hometown of Lightning Ridge provided that role model for him.

Through tenacity and ability, they had achieved scholarships with the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) to go to boarding schools in the major cities. Aboriginal kids from regional and outback areas just like him were finishing school, entering university and making careers for themselves. Kyh wanted that too – for himself and, by being a role model, for those younger than him. At age ten.

Can you even contemplate wanting something so much for yourself, your six siblings and your community that at such a young age, you are willing and determined to leave your Country to study nine hours away? From Year 7 to 12, you leave everything you know, everyone you know, to start a journey that you hope will end in others dreaming of something more too?

In the cities, it’s so easy to take so much for granted. Proximity to a good education, the funds to afford textbooks and excursions, sport and activities. Opportunities. It’s not so easy in a small town in rural or outback Australia.

As Kyh explains, ‘I am a proud Aboriginal man from Youalaroy/Ngemba Country who left home in Year 7 to study at Knox Grammar as a boarder. I was adamant I wanted to go to Knox and in Year 5 applied for a scholarship. There are only a certain amount of spots; I got one and another Aboriginal boy from Bourke got one.

‘I just wanted to be a person who went to school and did well so the kids at home could look up to me. The older boys influenced me, and I wanted to show the younger ones that they can go to boarding school and get an education too.’

But the battle doesn’t end with Year 12. Having completed his HSC during some of the most challenging times for students – the pandemic, lockdown and remote learning – boarding school was over, but Kyh wasn’t done yet.

That’s where the MQ team at Walanga Muru – which seeks to support and assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students choose their path, navigate obstacles and emerge as strong, resilient leaders – stepped in. ‘Walanga Muru have been amazing,’ says Kyh, who remembers attending the Rising Stars Leadership Camp in Year 10.

Over three days, together with other young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, he considered career options, developed leadership skills and immersed himself in University life. He was encouraged to act on his aspirations for the future.

Then, the following year, Kyh attended the Walanga Muru Aspire Camp, which changed everything: ‘It helped me achieve my ambitions of studying at Macquarie by guaranteeing me a scholarship,’ he says.

Kyh also achieved early entry and is now in his first year studying for a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing Management. ‘I’d like to become a marketing manager in a company,’ he says. ‘Business and marketing have always appealed; I was always really good at it,’ he says of his choice of degree, but it was the scholarship that made the difference between him going home and going to uni.

‘The scholarship really helped me,’ he says genuinely. ‘I was really excited about going to uni, but the costs were really expensive, and it would have been hard to cover them all as I’m living by myself. The scholarship means so much to me as it has allowed me to fulfill my dreams of graduating from university.’

Kyh says without the scholarship, he probably would have been a tradie back home. ‘I would like to thank the donors so much; your donations are quite literally helping more and more Aboriginal students finish university. I can’t put into words how much that means to our people.

‘Having Indigenous men and women with university degrees shows the younger generations there is hope of becoming successful and making their community proud. The opportunities are endless at Macquarie.’

That’s the power of role models – and the impact that is possible when compassionate people act on their belief that a university education really should be for all.