I appreciate this scholarship because I am studying one of the most niche degrees in Australia and playing one of the most challenging sports in the world. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an elite athlete and that I wanted to be an optometrist. To do both of those things I had to move away from my hometown in central Queensland, to the city. It took me four years to get into the course of my dreams and it's taken me seven years to make my first Australian water polo squad.

During all this time studying and training, I've had no one to cook me warm dinners to come home to after training, no one to wash my clothes, no mum to give me a cuddle when I've had a rough day because I've had to live away from my family. Although it can't give me a hug when I need it, this scholarship certainly can allow me time for studying instead of having to work so that I can balance sport and university.

The scholarship can help me have it all, being an elite athlete and being an optometrist. And I hope to inspire others that don't want to choose between two loves in their lives.