Bessie Shaw’s childhood was tumultuous.
She was born on the other side of the world, in England, and moved all over Australia as a kid, before being flung into crisis care at 16, halfway through Year 10.
Estranged from her family and living independently at Shepparton’s Education First Youth Foyer surrounded by other young people who had also suffered trauma, she managed to block out the noise, buckle down and drive herself through VCE at Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
“I planned all along to finish school,” the 18-year-old Year 12 graduate said.
“I wanted to finish to keep all my options open.”
Even though she willingly applied herself, she said she was glad school was over because she didn’t particularly enjoy it and had few friends there.
“I’d rather have no friends than bad friends,” she said.
The process was a means to a cause; she needed her education to open up future pathways, so she endured the discomfort and let the adversities wash over her.
To live at the Youth Foyer, one must be engaged in studies, which also gave her a reason to stick hard at it.
Now, Bessie has been awarded a Youth off the Streets scholarship, which comes with $6000 financial assistance for two years of education.
Next year she will attend Wangaratta TAFE, completing a Certificate III in Animal Care.
After that, she has her sights set on a business course at university.
“I want to run my own businesses,” Bessie said.
“I would love to run a hotel for abused kids to stay at, an animal sanctuary, a bakery and restaurant.”
She draws on her personal experiences as inspiration to make goals, starting with animal studies.
“I love animals. They always give you love, no matter what,” Bessie said.
Limited to lizards and fish as pets at her temporary accommodation, which will expire in April 2025, she has taken advantage of the allowance and owns one of each.
“I have a blue-tongue lizard named Dash and a blue fighter fish called Rufus, which I bought myself for Christmas,” Bessie said.
Bessie currently works part-time at a Goulburn Valley restaurant and is about to head off on a solo road trip to Queensland for Christmas — after also successfully obtaining her licence through the L2P program earlier this year — before returning to study next year.
“I just really need a holiday,” she said.