Nicholas fulfils Mum’s wish

Receiving a Carol and Stan Droder Scholarship has helped second year Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) student Nicholas Everard (above, second from left) during a tragic time in his life. Relocating to Bathurst from Queensland and coming from a single parent family, Nicholas was encouraged by his Mum to apply for various scholarships in his first year, but he was unsuccessful.Sadly, in October of his first year of study, Nicholas’ mother died suddenly from an undetected illness.

“As soon as I got the phone call, everything went up in the air. Lots of things run through your head, but I thought that to drop out would be disappointing. Mum would not want that. If anything, this is my motivation to get through my degree, hold that piece of paper at the end, and think, ‘I did it despite all odds’. Mum’s passing made me think I really do need a scholarship because I’m now without that financial support, I was motivated knowing that Mum really wanted to see me get a scholarship to university. Now I can proudly say that I’ve done what Mum wanted and that puts a smile on my face every day.”