By Dominic Monckton | Philanthropy Manager
Winning the Accelerate scholarship means a lot to my family and will help me have a future into university, Summer told us. Over her first year in the program, Summer has developed a stronger sense of confidence and belief in her future. Her goal of completing a university degree in Business has remained consistent throughout, but her mindset has shifted significantly, reflected in her growth across goal setting, career confidence and self understanding. It's a shift that suggests she isn't only thinking about her future, but actively backing herself to achieve it.
Summer's experience reflects a pattern we see across the program. In the 2025 exit survey of graduating scholars, goal setting confidence rose from 26 per cent to 97 per cent, career confidence from 40 per cent to 89 per cent, and self awareness from 44 per cent to 94 per cent. Summer is only a year into her own three year journey, but she is already tracking the same trajectory: naming the same shifts in her own words that the data shows across the cohort.
Summer points to practical, real world skills as a key outcome of her first year, including learning to manage money, communicate more openly, and save. These are foundational skills for long term independence. She also speaks to the value of relationships in her journey, describing the program as having a mentor and meeting the best people, a reminder of how much connection, guidance and exposure to new perspectives matter at this stage. That growing confidence is already showing up in action: Summer has taken on leadership roles as netball captain and coach within her school community.
Asked to reflect on the program overall, Summer rated it ten out of ten, calling it an amazing program to help yourself and meet new people and new connections. Her experience captures what Accelerate is built to do: develop capability alongside a genuine sense of belonging, two things that matter for long term outcomes.
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