Outstanding achievements of Officer and Berwick residents are being recognised thanks to the eighth annual Chisholm Education Awards at Hotel Chadstone.
The Higher Education Student of the Year award went to Officer resident Fahmida Yasmin who studies at the Berwick campus.
Fahmida Yasmin overcame many challenges when she moved to Australia from Bangladesh in 2019 to complete Chisholm’s Bachelor of Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs.
She achieved high distinctions in more than 80 per cent of her subjects.
During her studies, Fahmida volunteered with the City of Casey’s Gender Equality Taskforce while working hard to support herself financially.
She secured and completed a work placement at Headspace Morwell despite the difficulties posed by Covid-19.
“There’s no words to describe my feelings – it was more than I was expecting,“ she said.
“When I started my degree it was a bit of a struggle because back home we don’t really have online submissions and presentations and I struggled with learning citations and my research but I started seeking help from teachers and they helped me a lot.
“I was working weekends then doing classes and placement so it was very full-on but I managed to take some time to myself.
“Being an international student, it’s not easy to live in a country while going through all the changes of making new friends and having classes you’re not familiar with but at the end of the day you’ll be fine.“
Fahmida now plans to work with Save The Children as a family support worker.
The Secondary Student of the Year award went to Berwick resident Matua Tufuga who studies at Cranbourne.
Matua Tufuga completed the VCE Rising Stars program through Chisholm Sports Academy (basketball program) in 2020 and 2021.
He faced numerous hurdles and interruptions to his learning due to the Covid-19 lockdowns but remained focused and completed assessments to an extremely high standard.
Matua also endured multiple major sporting-related injuries but continued to attend training to support his peers and coaches.
He volunteered on multiple occasions for the Chisholm Sports Academy by supporting staff at holiday clinics/programs as well as try-out days for the program for new students.
Chisholm’s chief executive officer Stephen Varty said he was proud of the hard work and dedication of all award finalists.
“I am honoured to lead an organisation that produces such outstanding talent,“ Mr Varty said.
“The past year has been unprecedented and raised many challenges, which makes our finalists achievements even more outstanding.“
In attendance at the Chisholm Education Awards were government supporters including Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke, industry and education partners of Chisholm, award finalists and their family and friends.
Guests were treated to a performance by award-winning magician Vyom, and winners were announced across eight award categories.
