For Kingsgrove mother Grace the opportunity to study at university for the first time was one she couldn’t turn down.
Now 51 Grace, who asked her last name not be used, is in her second semester of a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Western Sydney majoring in interpreting and translation.
She moved to Sydney from Lebanon as a teenager and went straight from school to work.
With her twin boys Michael and Joseph now in primary school she decided now was the time to do something for herself.
‘’You have to live outside the box,’’ she said.
‘’Now I want to do something that I love.’’
She studies alongside her boys as well as her daughter Nicole who is also at university.
But it hasn’t been easy financially for the single mother.
That’s why she was so happy when she was chosen among 185 other people to receive a Strive Scholarship from St George Community Housing.
She received a $1,500 scholarship which will go towards new translation software for her computer.
Michael and Joseph, 10, will also receive $400 each which will be used for winter uniforms.
‘’It will make things just so much easier,’’ she said.
‘’It’s hard now especially working and looking after the boys.’’
Grace hopes her tertiary education will allow her to start her own business and work from home.
‘’It would be great to be my own boss and still be here to watch the boys grow up,’’ she said.