Alana's story of determination
Alana’s story of determination
For many, the journey to university feels like a natural next step. But for Alana, that path was blocked by unrelenting systemic barriers. Her childhood was not defined by safety or care, but by a constant need to survive.
Leaving home at just twelve years old, Alana fell into a "grey area" of the system; not officially removed by child protection, yet entirely without a stable home.
By seventeen, while her peers were focused on high school, Alana was renting privately and working, determined to secure her own independence.
Statistically, the odds were stacked against her; only one to three percent of Australians who grow up in out-of-home care make it to university.*
Alana had the intellect and an unbreakable drive to beat those odds, but at twenty-one, the universe threw another curveball: a diagnosis of advanced Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
I just couldn’t focus in school when my brain was wired for survival. At Monash, they were removing barriers, not creating them.” - Alana
“Spending months in intensive care and enduring half a year of grueling chemotherapy is certainly one way to spend your early twenties,” Alana says.
“You learn a lot about healthcare when you’re the one stuck in the hospital. That experience gave me a deep, unwavering drive to become a nurse.”
The education intervention
When a student faces severe hardship, the systems around them often fail. When Alana initially enrolled at another university, she found a rigid system that couldn't accommodate her complex health and personal circumstances. She felt judged rather than supported.
Everything changed when she applied to Monash. A Monash Achieving Potential Scholarship is designed to be the ultimate override. We don’t ask students facing hardship to jump through administrative hoops; for students like Alana, the support is automatic.
For a long time, my only goal was making it to the end of the week. Today, I am planning the rest of my life.” - Alana
This intervention provides:
- Automatic access: scholarships for students facing hardship, including care leavers, are offered without a complex application process.
- Comprehensive backing: financial support is paired with access to Monash support services, including careers and employability, mentoring, and the Disability Support Service.
- Complete security: we provide the financial breathing room required to stop surviving and start planning.
The multiplier effect
Today, Alana is a single mother raising two young girls and has officially finished her nursing studies. This July, she begins her Honours in Nursing. By removing the financial barriers in her way, donors have triggered a massive societal multiplier effect.
Alana is taking her lived trauma and converting it into world-class healthcare. Her profound adversity has given her a deep empathy for her patients; she wants to be the nurse who listens and sees the whole person, not just the illness.
I want to be that nurse who listens and sees the whole person. By donating to Achieving Potential Scholarships and through that, supporting my education, donors have indirectly funded the care of every patient I will ever treat.” - Alana
When you fund a student like Alana, your gift has a lasting reach:
- Immediate effect: a student is supported to stay enrolled, and focused.
- Long-term capability: society gains a highly resilient, deeply empathetic professional.
- Generational shift: as a mother and a scholar, Alana is changing the trajectory for her entire family.
Education is the greatest gift
Donate now and help break down the barriers that stand between talented students and their goals. Your generosity ensures hardship doesn’t shape the future of others like Alana.
Give monthly and Monash will match your gift - doubling the impact of your generosity.
Thank you for your kindness.