Sarah Reeves is set to be an IT girl after winning one of 280 Public Education Foundation scholarships.
The Year 11 Parkes High School student was awarded a Trades and Technology Opportunity scholarship earlier this year. Today Mi- chelle Stanhope, CEO of the Public Education Foundation, made a special trip to Parkes to officially present Sarah with the scholarship at a school assembly.
The scholarship encourages senior students to pursue a career in trades or technology, and Sarah admits she was anxious about her chances of winning it.
“When I first thought about the scholarship I didn’t think I would get it because I’m a female. I had the preconception that it is a male dominated industry. In my school gender isn’t much of an issue – there are other girls who are interested in tech and maths, but I was still unsure of my chances.
“So, I was actually really excited when I got it. It allows me to have extra money to help fund school requirements.”
Sarah’s favourite subjects are extension maths, chemistry and physics. “I am very interested in electrical transmission of waves and how computers work,” she said.
“I haven’t set one concrete ambition yet, but I know I want to work in technology. Because of the way the world is going, I want to en- sure I’m equipped for the future. I’m thinking about studying IT, or finding a way that I could combine IT with education.”
Sarah said that she owed a lot to the teachers who had supported her. “They’re really connected and encouraging,” she said. “I would also like to thank the Public Education Foundation.”
By Raen Fraser