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Anyone can be excellent. They just need to be given a chance.

From Myanmar to Australia, from medicine to information technology, a scholarship has empowered Aye Phyu Thant towards excellence at ACU and beyond.

Prioritising study in the face of economic pressures can be an ongoing challenge for international students. At ACU, philanthropic and university-funded awards and scholarships exist to remove these barriers to excellence, creating space for students like Aye Phyu Thant to achieve their potential.

Aye was a medical student in her home country of Myanmar when COVID-19 shutdowns and political upheaval inspired her to start looking at options to study overseas. An ACU Pathways Scholarship and a subsequent International Student Scholarship opened the door to a brand-new career path.

The financial support that awards like these provide can be life-changing, but for Aye, who enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology, the ACU scholarships did more than boost her bank account. They also built her confidence, arming her with the knowledge that the university believed in her potential.

“When I received the International Student Scholarship, I realised that achieving all high distinctions in my ACU diploma was the reason I got the International Student Scholarship,” says Aye, who completed the Diploma of Information Technology before progressing into the bachelor’s degree. 

“I was like, okay, I did that—maybe now I can do more. It gave me a sense of motivation—as in, I could try harder and achieve even bigger things.” 

Scholarships and other student-focused funding programs can be a catalyst for trickle-down benefits that deliver positive impact in the wider world. Aye’s scholarship gave her the freedom to invest her spare time into bettering her community: as she progressed through her degree, she became a student mentor, providing academic help to other ACU IT students who were following in her footsteps. 

“I wanted to be part of a community that actually help students be supported,” she says.

She also volunteered at the Parramatta Mission, a charity that provides food and other support services to vulnerable people in Western Sydney. Part of the Uniting Church, the mission shares ACU’s commitment to service for the greater good. 

Initially, Aye was introduced to the organisation through her ACU Community Engagement unit, a compulsory subject that all students complete as part of their ACU studies. But the experience was so rewarding, she kept coming back, volunteering for throughout her degree and receiving a nomination for the 2024 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards.

Aye knows that her academic success and her ability to give back is in large part the result of the support she has received. This is the point, she says: student-focused philanthropic and university funding is about clearing a path to excellence for people whose life circumstances might otherwise hamper their journey.

It’s why Ay gives back to those around her, and why she believes that others who have the opportunity to give should do the same.

“Anyone can be excellent,” she says.

“They just need to be given a chance.”