There are times when financial hardship, disability and chronic illness make staying at uni seem impossible to Nat. But her determination is palpable.
In 2024, Bachelor of Social Work (Honours)/Bachelor of Social Sciences (Psychology) student Nat Vigo was struggling to make ends meet. She had a tough choice to make.
“Having previously experienced homelessness, I was considering abandoning my studies to get a job because I was terrified of going back there,” she says.
“When you’re just surviving, you don't really notice how bad it is until you get support. When you’re sleeping on someone's couch for a long period of time, you just feel like a huge burden. And then, when you're disabled, that feeling is doubled.”
Nat decided to take a chance and apply for an RMIT Study Support Scholarship – and was thrilled to receive $1500. To some people, it’s not a huge amount of money, but Nat says it has improved her overall wellbeing in many small ways.
Bachelor of Social Work (Honours)/Bachelor of Social Sciences (Psychology) student Nat Vigo.
Being able to afford the medication and treatments I need has made my life and studies so much more manageable. Even what some people consider small things – like being able to afford to bring a plate of food to a funeral – make such a huge difference.
The scholarship is continuing to help Nat manage her chronic conditions and she is in a much better position than she would have been without it. She is dedicated to attending her many medical and physiotherapy appointments so she can build her capacity to increase her community work when she graduates.
“I'm so excited to graduate and be able to work enough to cover more than just my basic needs. I love the study that I'm doing, but I'm also just so sick of being broke,” she says wryly.
With her honours year in front of her, Nat can see the finish line. She is feeling positive about the future, confident that she will be able to balance study and her final placement.
She is especially grateful to RMIT lecturer and field placement coordinator, Margarita Windisch, for her ongoing support. “I completely trust her judgement to find me a suitable organisation for my final placement,” she says.
Nat is experienced in community work and is open to exploring new social work areas to continue learning and broadening her practice when she graduates. She values integrating creative practice into her work and is committed to contributing to social causes.
“In my last placement, I managed a creative cultural inclusion initiative that I co-facilitated with a First Nations group. I loved doing it and it ended up being a very successful project. But I’d also love to work in outreach, counselling or areas like harm reduction, domestic and family violence, and disability because I have a lot of lived experience in those areas. I just really want to give back.”
