The New South Wales inland farming region, Wagga Wagga, is a long way from the South Pacific. But for Tyrone Vatubuli’s parents, moving to Australia was a long-held dream. It took two attempts and meant starting completely from scratch, but with hard work and determination, they did it. And in the process, they laid the foundation for Tyrone’s future.

“My parents are very hard workers but realised there was no way they could move up in Fiji. So in 2014, when I was eight, they decided to migrate somewhere we could all have opportunities such as a tertiary education, and enjoy a better life as a family,” Tyrone explains. “They wanted for us what they hadn’t been able to achieve for their younger selves.”

The family took a well-researched risk and made the move across the Pacific Ocean. After spending their first six months in Tumbarumba, near the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, the family then settled permanently in Wagga Wagga. “It was June, so the middle of winter – it was freezing!” Laughs Tyrone, who says it was quite the culture shock.

“There was only a very small community of Fijians in the area, they were very welcoming” he remembers warmly. “Still, it was normal for me to be one of, if not the only, person of colour in any room I walked into, which made it very difficult.

“It’s different now, more diverse, but at the time I was always conscious of being different – it was definitely something I had to come to terms with growing up in rural Australia. I had a great group of friends, and it became easier to manage the older I got.”

The family was laser-focused on settling into their new home. Tyrone’s parents enrolled in TAFE to pursue new careers and provide all they could for him and his older brother. To them, education was central.

“My whole life, my parents emphasised the importance of education, and recognising the privilege that I have to be able to do whatever I work hard at and put my mind to, with the sky being the limit.”

A natural leader, during high school Tyrone was heavily involved in academic decathlon teams, sport and theatre. During his senior years, Tyrone was committed to school leadership and became the college captain after running a school-wide campaign that addressed racism, for which he received a Premier’s Respect Award.

With his eyes set on university, he noticed that all the courses that most appealed to him, from teaching to medicine, all shared a common component – the potential to create change in someone’s life. Pursuing psychology studies therefore seemed the natural choice for him.

“[Psychology] is a profession that focuses on the emotional and psychological involvement in someone’s life to create, or attempt to achieve, a positive difference or outcome,” he explains.

“Macquarie has an excellent reputation for psychology, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do – I love talking to people and helping them – so I applied for and gained early entry.”

For Tyrone, this goal was what drove him to achieve strong academic performance in his final school years.

“I remember wanting to shoot for the moon,” he says. “My parents always said, if you aim for the moon, at worst you’ll land on the stars. I take after them in wanting to explore all possible opportunities, set goals and achieve them.”

Still, there was one more hurdle, one which many regional students face when moving to the city for university – accommodation. “The reality began to set in that finances would be a huge factor in whether to accept my offer, so I began researching scholarships. Thankfully, I was successful and received a Macquarie Advantage Accommodation Scholarship at Robert Menzies College (RMC) in my first year, and again in second year.”

Tyrone describes receiving the scholarship as a huge weight being lifted from his shoulders. “Being the first in my family to go to university, I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to the dreams of myself and my parents. I had always been concerned about the financial impact this would have on my parents and had started working at Coles in Year 10 to do my part to alleviate costs.

“Receiving a scholarship has been lifechanging. It’s eased the transition of moving from the country to the city, given me the ability to start university on the right foot, and has allowed me to fully immerse myself in university life on an even playing field with everyone else here.

“I don’t feel like an outsider,” he says.

Today, Tyrone is a committee member of RMC’s Diversity and Equity team, enjoys inter-college sport, and has been heavily involved in everything from the College Open Day, activities for Kickstart Week, to events such as Holi Festival and Pride Month festivities on campus. He also volunteers as a student ambassador, travelling to his hometown to promote RMC at a Careers and University Expo.’

Tyrone says RMC has been his home away from home.

"The college welcomed us with open arms and is everything I could want – a diverse, social and engaging community; a place where I can feel a sense of belonging and make memories I’ll treasure forever. I’ve made genuine friendships that will last a lifetime,” he beams.

“I’ll be forever grateful for this scholarship – it has truly given me the chance to live out a reality that kids like me could only dream of. It has changed my life but also changed the lives of my family and other kids like me, giving them hope that they too can achieve what they put their minds to and believe that anything is possible.

“I want other people, including my extended family back in Fiji, to see me and think, I can do that too. I couldn’t be more excited about my future and genuinely want to thank the scholarship donors – their support truly goes a long way, and I hope they never doubt the power they have with their generosity.”