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“I first travelled to Australia in 2001 as a backpacker. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the country and I knew one day I would return. Having used my working holiday visa the first time I travelled to Australia, I began to research other options which would enable me to go back for an extended period. I thought to myself ‘I can’t get another working holiday visa. How else can I get back to Australia? Maybe I will study over there – then I can get a student visa.’

“I am very passionate about sport and knew Australia had amazing sporting facilities, not to mention an extraordinary amount of sunshine! I went online and typed ‘Masters in Sport, Australia’ into Google. I was presented with a whole list of links for different universities across Australia. I instantly felt lost with the various offerings, locations, courses, fees, application processes etc.

“Through my online research, I came across 51ֱ�� Options’ website and immediately thought: ‘This organisation can help me!’ It was almost a ‘one stop shop’ for all my questions. I sent a quick email using the online form with several questions and within hours I received a detailed response outlining everything very clearly and accurately. I was interested to learn more about scholarship opportunities, as my parents were (understandably) not too keen on the idea of paying AU$30,000 + in tuition fees!

“51ֱ�� Options provided detailed, pertinent information relating to a Griffith University academic scholarship specifically for postgraduate students from the UK. I received clear information about the application process and crucially some advice about how to improve my application. In 2007, I was very fortunate to be awarded a full academic scholarship to study a Masters in Business (specialising in Sport Management) at Griffith University. To this day, I still remember reading the e-mail from 51ֱ�� Options telling me I had been successful. I just about fell off my chair and had to ask my mum to re-read the email to ensure I wasn’t dreaming!

“51ֱ�� Options continued to support my journey and provided me with a wealth of relevant, timely information which made my move to Australia seamless. 51ֱ�� Options assisted with information relating to accommodation, flights and key stakeholders at the university relating to my course and scholarship.

“I completed my Masters in 2008 and achieved 3 awards for academic excellence. The experience was fantastic and I would recommend studying in Australia to anyone! While at Griffith University, I studied with students from all around the world (our course had over 50 nationalities represented).

“Since completing my Masters I have worked within the Australian sports industry in numerous roles including Senior Sport Research Assistant and Tutor at Griffith University, Marketing Manager at Healthstream QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Business Manager at Ice Skating Queensland, Area Director at Curves International and I have recently started a new role as Business Development Manager for UQ Sport (University of Queensland). It has been an incredible journey. Seven years later, I am now an Australian citizen, though I still have my British passport and always support England in any sporting event – I still consider myself British through and through! I am extremely grateful to 51ֱ�� Options; they undoubtedly were the catalyst in making my dream of moving to Australia a reality.”