Meet Sietara (Tara) Mahshar

Tara commenced with the Harding Miller Scholarship program in 2018 and graduated last year. She was a high achieving student at Chifley College, Dunheved Campus. This is a school in Western Sydney with a very low socio-economic background. Her parents had limited English as they came from war-torn Afghanistan. Adapting to Australian life was hard for the family, due to their limited English and trauma they had endured as they had experienced war, upheaval and resettlement in a foreign country.

Tara was an exemplary scholar throughout the four years of the scholarship. She ended up being School Captain and Dux of her School in 2021. Tara is currently studying at the University of New South Wales and doing a Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

Tara is an outstanding young women who is now mentoring students from her community. The scholarship has set Tara up for life and success. 

In her words:

“I’m currently in my first year of a Bachelor of Laws/Philosophy, Politics and Economics at UNSW. Despite my degree, I have a deep connection to Education because of the HMEF scholarship. As a young woman who comes from an Afghan background, education is very dear to me and the HMEF scholarship solidified this. This scholarship has encouraged me to do great things. It has boosted my confidence which allowed me to become School Captain in Year 10 and then again in Year 12. It led me to many leadership awards and involvement in programs such as the Youth Parliament. Most importantly, it has encouraged me to use education as a way to give back to my community. I grew up in a community where students are disadvantaged. Education can really help children overcome these disadvantages and I can confidently say that, with the help of HMEF, I am an example of a student who has overcome these disadvantages and challenges in my path. Now, I work at a low-socio economic school as a COVID tutor, giving other children a chance to shine, just like HMEF helped me shine. I am hopeful that this degree will help me to continue this work in the future. I am very grateful to HMEF because without them, I would not have had the confidence to do the work I have done up until now.” 

Year 9 photo

Tara now

We have shared Tara’s story because it was kind people like you that have changed her life through the Harding Miller Education Foundation. That is why we must continue to raise money to fund new scholarships so we can give high achieving girls like Tara the same opportunities. Will you help by donating now (link to donate now) or sharing our story with colleagues, family and friends so we can continue to give worthy girls the same opportunity as Tara. We currently have 50 girls on our highly commended / waiting list for scholarships.

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We would like to acknowledge the two scholars who have been recognised as Top Achievers. Top Achievers are those who achieved one of the highest places in an HSC course or VET examination and also achieved a result in the highest band (Band 6 or Band E4). We congratulate the following scholars who were honoured on the 2021 list:

• Angela Le Ranked 17^th in NSW for English Advanced – Prairiewood High School
• Hibba Chaudhry Ranked 6^th in NSW in Investigating Science – Bankstown Girls High School

The class of 2021 are a credit to their families/carers, dedicated teachers and the many public high schools that have guided them through their educational journeys.

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We would like to acknowledge the two scholars who have been recognised as All Round Achievers. All Round Achievers are those who attained 90 or above (Band 6 or Band E4) in at least ten units of study. We congratulate the following scholars who were honoured on the 2021 list:

• Angela Le – Prairiewood High School
• Nhi Lu – Prairiewood High School

Angela and Nhi are among 1,476 NSW students who were recognised on the All Round Achievers list of HSC results this year.
The class of 2021 are a credit to their families/carers, dedicated teachers and the many public high schools that have guided them through their educational journeys.

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HSC HONOUR ROLE 2021 – Congratulations to Isabella who is a Distinguished Achiever (achieved a mark of 90 or above) in Biology, Investigating Science, Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Advanced.

Isabella has just completed her HSC and was Vice Captain at Casino High School. She is an exceptional student and was placed first in all of her subjects and was dux of the year. Isabella has been awarded dux every year since Year 7. This year she also participated in Professor Henry Messel International Science School and the National Youth Science Forum.

Isabella is planning on being the first person in her family to attend university and has already received a conditional offer for Griffith University to study a Bachelor of Medical Science degree. In 2021, she participated in the Griffith University Future Leaders Retreat, received a Community Recognition Statement from the NSW Parliament for Academic and Leadership achievement, a Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement and was the Casino Lion’s Youth of the Year which recognises cultural, educational and leadership pursuits. In 2019, selected as 1 of only 16 students selected for a study tour on Lizard Island, She was the 2020 NSW Country to Canberra Award Winner, from Careers with Stem,

“The Harding Miller Scholarship has provided me with incredible financial support and security that has enabled me to better focus on my education and obtain a variety of academic goals. My success during high school, which was enhanced by the Harding Miller Scholarship and its role in reducing the financial pressure on my single-parent household, has given me the confidence and self-belief to follow a career in Aerospace Medicine. As well as the economic benefits, the laptop has allowed me to be efficient and organised with my schoolwork and has been a vital tool that has assisted me in excelling academically. For many years, the reliable data and the mobility of the laptop ensured that I was able to continue travelling around NSW and Queensland to compete in [sporting] events while not being disadvantaged with my education. Additionally, the Harding Miller Scholarship created many opportunities that has allowed me to overcome the physical barriers of living rurally and the low access to educational resources. Experiences such as the workshop with the Girls in Tech Movement has solidified my vision for a future in science and has broadened my perspective of science communication as a career pathway.”

Keep an eye out for Isabella in the future – we know she is destined for great things!

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We received applications from students in more than 200 schools located in every state and territory in Australia except the ACT. Of the new students awarded a scholarship:
• 19% are first nations girls
• 31% of the scholarships are based in rural and regional Australia
• 8% have experienced or are experiencing out of home care (foster care)
• 10% of the new girls have a refugee background from a total of 43% of the students who come from a family with non-English speaking background.

Thanks to the generosity of the donors, we are in a position to award 160 new scholarships. That means in 2022 the Harding Miller Education Scholarship Program welcomed the largest group of new students to the program bringing the total scholarship program to more than 510 students, which is a record for us.

All scholarship packs were sent out by early 2022. Each year we are adding options and resources for the students to enable them to further customise their scholarship to support them in the way that meets their needs and helps them achieve their ambitions.

In 2021, we added additional online and in person enrichment activities to the calendar, published a Year 10 subject selection guide, introduced career profiling for Year 11 students and provided a new membership to Study Work Grow career resource to all year groups. It is also the second year accessing Study Skills, JobJump and our HMEF APP. Pascal Press have also donated $60 or $100 vouchers to all of the students for the 2nd consecutive year. These tools are added to our existing scholarship offering which includes a high quality laptop, data, remote IT support, tutoring, a prepaid card for school expenses, online homework help and, very importantly, support from a volunteer personal coach.

Last year also saw some active involvement from our Alumni, including the launch of ARK (Anti-Racism Kit) by Sabina Patawaran who was one of our 2020 graduates from Riverside Girls High School in Sydney. It is a toolkit of strategies and information to help high school students understand racism and combat it within their communities. It is also aimed at creating change within their schools.

We recently held our Scholarship Award ceremonies for our Year 9 scholars. These award ceremonies were held in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane. We had some inspiring keynote speakers, the scholars took part in exciting events and workshops and they all met new friends.

Cara Varian, Executive Director of Harding Miller Education Foundation, gave a motivating speech emphasising the importance of scholars making the most of all the opportunities they are offered through their scholarship and encouraging them to create their own peer network by staying in touch and supporting each other.

We are very proud of all our scholars and look forward to supporting them on their journey with the Foundation.

The post Scholarship update appeared first on Harding Miller Education Foundation.

Both scholars won a spot on the top 5 finalist list for the Pivoting Pioneer Award. The Pivoting Pioneer Award recognises entrepreneurs who have had to pivot to evolve their business model based on validation or the changing world.

Both scholars were given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to an audience at the x Sparkfest Event on Wednesday 20 October 2021. Unfortunately, neither of them went on to win the award but they both very graciously celebrated the award winner.

Rim’s business is called Build My Event, you can find out more by visiting the website here.

Khawlah’s business is in collaboration with her younger brother and is called BrotherSista Bubble Tea.  You can find out more by visiting the Instagram page here.

We would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to Rim and Khawlah.  Go girls!!

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150 Scholarship Welcome Packs

February is always an exciting month because it is when our girls receive their Harding Miller welcome packs including their Toshiba Dynabook laptops! 

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"Katie Ambrus was very excited to receive her pack yesterday. She isn’t really a fan of having her photo taken so I took a few candid pics instead. I love the first one as her face is displaying just genuine joy. Thank you very much for making this an easy process. I was expecting to have to help Katie set the computer up but you guys had it all sorted!”

Belinda

Katie's Teacher

"We have received the awesome laptop and we are so pleased and grateful. We cannot thank the foundation enough."

Mark Quiambai and Livvy Charleston

Livvy is the 2021 scholar in Year 9

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