The youth were supported by their families as they attended a presentation at The Civic on Tuesday which was run by St Mary’s College captains Maria Ortiz and Ben Maher, and Gunnedah High School captains Kustiana Tuckerman and Jaxon Holbrook.

The scholarship fund was set up by Gunnedah Shire Council in early 2000’s in response to a report by the University of New England’s Professor Ingrid Moses which found the region had the lowest number of people going on to further education.

Since its inception more than $300,000 has been donated to students by the community to assist them in tertiary pursuits.

At the presentation, Gunnedah deputy mayor Gae Swain spoke about the foundations of the fund and why it was important.

“This Gunnedah Community Scholarship Fund is unique. I have not heard of another one of its kind in NSW or even Australia, where a community gets behind its young people in this way, showing them we believe in them and their future,” she told the audience.

Cr Swain urged the recipients to appreciate the contribution of community members to the fund.

“This money has been given by your community. Given by people who work hard for it because we believe in you. We believe you will make your life count,” she said. 

“We believe you will be a worthy ambassador for Gunnedah and rural NSW and that in years to come, you will be a contributor to the community wherever you live.”

St Mary’s principal Max Quirk and High School principal Shane Kelly both addressed the audience and congratulated the recipients.

Mr Quirk said the fund was “yet another example of a rural community supporting its youth”.

Former recipient Ivy Watterson also took to the stand to tell the audience how the fund had helped her to support herself as she took on a Bachelor of Business in Armidale.

The presentation was organised by Council’s youth development officer, Sewa Emojong.

“The presentation ceremony was a lovely occasion to honour our 2017 scholarship fund recipients, and thank the many sponsors who make the Gunnedah Community Scholarship Fund possible,” she said.

“The room was filled with smiling faces and positive messages to our young people as they head off to start or continue their tertiary education journey.”

Among the 2017 recipients to benefit from the fund is Jarod Reynolds, a former vice captain of Gunnedah High School.

Jarod will be leaving Gunnedah on February 18 to begin a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at the University of Sydney.

The 19-year-old finished the Higher School Certificate in 2015 and took a gap year to save money. He secured a place on campus and has already paid three weeks rent because of a contractual agreement. When he reaches Sydney he will still need to purchase books and software for his degree.

"Sydney is more expensive than Armidale or Newcastle,” Jarod said.

“[The scholarship] will help heaps with all the expenses. There are a lot of high expenses I’m still learning about.”

Jarod will be living out of home for the first time and doesn’t know anyone else starting at the university this year.

“As it gets closer, I’m feeling a little bit nervous, but also excited,” he said.

“It’s almost a fresh start moving down there and meeting a new group of people.”

The student said the “deciding factor” for his choice of university was the option of “flexible first year” in his course.

“I get to do the first semester kind of doing core engineering units to find which one suits me best. And that was my thing – I didn’t know which one I wanted to do,” he said.

Jarod said he was originally looking at studying civil engineering but started considering the field of mechatronics after attending a lecture on the engineering element at the university’s open day.

“It will be civil versus mechatronics in the end, I think,” he said.

Jarod said he was drawn to engineering because he loved Maths and problem solving from a young age.

“Engineering struck me because of its rigidity. I like that with Maths there’s always an answer,” he said.

“I’ve always like being challenged and trying to figure out the solution to everything.

“I figure engineering is just another problem to solve.”

Jarod’s choice is unique in his family with his mother, Catherine, and two sisters Gabriel and Nikkea working at Gunnedah South Primary School.