How a Mentor Support Network scholarship helped Nate succeed

“Last year I challenged myself to compete among the brilliant minds of Australia’s youth in the Australian Science and Engineering Fair (AUSSEF),” says Nate, a Lake Macquarie high school student and recipient of a 2025 Mentor Support Network scholarship. “I spent 11 months working extremely hard, powered only by my determination to innovate a project that could place me high in the competition.

“Titled ‘Advanced Reenactment and Observation Learning Device [ARNOLD]: The future of video-based coding’, it is an artificial intelligence project aiming to make health care easier for people with disabilities, and required me to innovate a completely new robotics operating and learning system.

“Funding was low, so in the times that I wasn’t studying for school, I was working at a local fast-food restaurant to gain enough money to support my project. I had no outside resources, no labs or workshops to work with and definitely no mentors or supporters who could assist me with the technical side of my project.”

Nate applied for the scholarship to help him finish his project. “I placed 11th in not only Australia, but New Zealand, many Pacific islands and international schools within the AUSSEF competition,” he says proudly.

Investing in young people’s potential

Mentor Support Network (MSN) provides educational scholarships of up to $2,000 to high school students entering Year 11, or vocational students starting the final years of their technical/vocational training in the New South Wales Hunter region.

“The scholarships are not necessarily awarded because of academic achievement, but rather because of a student’s demonstrated desire to succeed,” explains MSN Chair Julie Rich. “The goal is to assist disadvantaged young people to stay in high school or vocational training and reach their potential in terms of individual education and career goals.”

“I was lucky enough to receive the MSN scholarship in aid of my financial troubles, and I am greatly thankful for everything that your organisation does so more students like myself can get the help they need,” says Nate. “I think that what I achieved could not only inspire my peers but also create awareness of the possibilities for Australian youth, and why funding for scholarships like this is so necessary.

“I am a member of the AUSSEF international team, and the only one to go to a public school… not to mention the many highly supported students that I was able to outperform while facing significant financial issues and battling schoolwork and extracurriculars.

“It’s important that young people know that the resources they are given, and the environments they grow up in, do not determine their future or the opportunities ahead.”

Supporting 51 students in 2026

A Community Grant of $20,000 helped MSN provide 51 educational scholarships to students in 2026.

“The number of scholarships is one of the largest that we have awarded,” says Julie. “We are extremely grateful to the teachers who nominated students, and also for our sponsors and donors, without whose assistance our scholarship program would not exist.

“The successful group of students have already been using their scholarship funds to purchase items such as personal computers, work-related tools and equipment, home study furniture, school uniforms and spectacles, among other items.”

Building confidence and goal-setting

Julie says the MSN scholarship program increases recipients’ knowledge of training opportunities and further education, and assists them to pursue opportunities in their chosen career path, leading to a greater chance of employment and advancement.

Nate is certainly one scholarship recipient with big goals! “My absolute dream is to go to the USA to study a degree in aerospace engineering – hopefully at MIT,” he says. “Then I would strive for a doctorate, or find a job I enjoy in experimental propulsion aeronautics.”

“To our grant partner Sisters of Charity Foundation and to schools, mentors and supporters: thank you,” says Julie. “Your belief in our students is the reason our work continues to grow.

“And to our students – past, present and future – we remain committed to walking alongside you as you shape your own paths forward.”

About the Community Grants Program

Every year the Sisters of Charity Foundation provides grants to small not-for-profits across Australia, like Mentor Support Network, that use clever ways to fight disadvantage, loneliness, suffering and oppression. Learn more at Community Grants Program.