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From Sri Lanka with love

A scholarship helped Maxwell Vincent follow his partner to Hobart and complete his degree in the process.

Study

Love brought Maxwell Vincent to Tasmania, and a much-needed scholarship made the practicalities of the relocation a whole lot easier.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Maxwell started studying his Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology online through the Cardiff Metropolitan University.

He said he never saw any future for himself that didn’t involve computers in some way.

“My dad sent me and my brother for an IT study weekend course when I was about 10 years old and I’ve been into it ever since then,” he said.

“I’ve always done a lot of gaming, setting up my own PCs at home, I didn’t see myself doing anything else but meddling with computers.”

He worked as a network engineer for an Australian-based company at the same time as studying, the time difference meaning he started work at 1am.

This made it increasingly difficult to juggle work and study.

His partner, who had studied her accounting degree in Melbourne, was keen to return to Australia to work, so when she moved to Hobart, Maxwell went with her.

This meant interrupting his degree, but once they had settled into their new life in Hobart, Maxwell turned his attention to trying to complete his degree through the University of Tasmania.

“I had completed two years of my three-year degree in Sri Lanka and, based on that experience, the University of Tasmania exempted my first year here and I just had to do the final two years for a Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology.”

Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology student Maxwell Vincent was awarded the 2022 South Asia Scholarship.

As part of his enrolment, Maxwell applied for available scholarships and he was thrilled to be awarded the 2022 South Asia Scholarship, reducing his overall course fee by 15%, which has been a huge help.

“Especially seeing as how we had a lot of expenses in terms of visas and so forth from the international relocation.

“It has also helped to reduce stress of needing to earn enough to pay for full time study and still live a decent lifestyle.”

Maxwell is back to working full time and studying full time simultaneously, which he said was necessary financially, but he sees his current position with Telstra as a future investment as well.

“I’ll graduate with a major in Business Analysis, which has to do with bridging that gap between consumer and software developer. And Telstra has a really good graduate program, so I’m hoping to eventually end up with a position there after I graduate.

Having previously studied online, Maxwell said he was relishing the experience to study in person and on campus, saying the highlight so far was meeting so many people.

“I feel like it’s one of those things that makes living in another country worth it, going in to uni and meeting students from all backgrounds, meeting my lecturers, that whole experience.”

And while full-time work and full-time study has kept him too busy to do a lot of exploring since he came to Tasmania, Maxwell loves the Tasmanian environment and plans to make the most of his surroundings once he graduates.

“It is beautiful here and my partner is pushing me to explore. I’m very focused on work and uni now but I will do it eventually!”

Have you considered applying for a scholarship? Take a look at the scholarships that are available and see if one suits you and your studies.