Lockington teen Jono McAsey was recently announced as a recipient of a Youthrive Victoria Rural Chances Vocational Scholarship valued at up to $5000.
The scholarships are highly competitive and require applicants to submit an application and go through an interview process.
The funding aims to ease the load on students by providing financial support for any higher education-related costs.
Jono said it was great news after an already big year.
“It felt pretty good. Obviously you don’t go out expecting to get this stuff, you just hope for the best,” he said.
“It’s been a full-on year and this was the cherry on top of the cake.”
He added that the money would also go towards purchasing a car after his own was stolen earlier in the year.
“The money is supposed to help us out where we need and with any struggles around our higher education, and for me, even buying a new car,” he said.
“I had a car stolen earlier this year and as a 17-year-old, that sucks, especially living so far out from work and school.
“I had all my school books in the back and all my ski gear and stuff like that and obviously I couldn’t replace my school books and notes.”
On top of completing his HSC at Echuca College, he also carried out a school-based apprenticeship at Foodmach Echuca.
He worked on Mondays and Tuesdays at Foodmach as a fitter and turner from 6am to 2.30pm and then from Wednesday to Friday he would attend school as normal.
Jono said that balancing the two worked out well for him and he would recommend it to others.
“I would definitely recommend this process; if I had to go back, I would do it the exact same way again,” he said.
“For me, I didn’t want to leave school because I had way too much fun at school and because I started my apprenticeship early, it means I will also finish a year early.
“The best part was I got the pocket money during the week and I was able to save a lot and help Dad a lot.”
Now that he has graduated, he will continue his apprenticeship full-time through Foodmach and Bendigo TAFE.
The grant will also be put towards travel costs to Bendigo when trade school is on, as well as costs to travel from Lockington to Echuca for work.
Later down the track he is considering going to university as a mature-age student to study a business course.