2022

Oliver Scammell

Gisborne

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be awarded a Geoff Walsh Memorial Scholarship.

Receiving this scholarship has been incredibly helpful this year in many ways, most significantly in relieving financial strain.

Investing in the tools necessary to enable a successful learning journey is expensive on top of accommodation and the other financial responsibilities of being an undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours.

As a school leaver heading into the big wide world and having to move away from a home life with my family, receiving a scholarship from the Geoff Walsh Memorial Scholarship Committee has seriously made the transition so much less stressful. This scholarship enabled me to replace and upgrade my 5-year-old laptop, relocate myself and my vehicle from Gisborne to Christchurch and purchase the stationary I required. I have been able to work fewer hours at my Job to focus on consolidating my Learning. By focusing harder on my studies throughout the working terms, I have been able to achieve at a higher level thus far.

Along with the massive financial positive impact and boost, the application process has really given me an invaluable insight as to how supportive and inspiring the HVE members are. I am truly grateful that several HVE members welcomingly gave me some of their valuable time during visits to their businesses I organised during my last year at high school. The genuine interest shared during the visits confirmed my desire to pursue an engineering career. I am sincerely grateful for the support that the HVE Committee has given me this far.

Receiving this scholarship has definitely been a source of motivation in my studies and a constant reminder of the opportunities ahead of me in this career. Also a

responsibility to make the most of the chance that I have been presented with.

I am very excited to see what the upcoming adversities and learning opportunities

will reveal and where this degree will take me. I hope that I can continue to develop

into a successful contributor to the industry.

Once again thank you very much for the support and the scholarship.