FIVE students from Windsor High School attended at Western Sydney University conference at the Parramatta South Campus to learn the opportunities of a higher education.
The students were part of the university’s Fast Forward program, which brought together more than 600 students from Sydney schools in their annual Year 12 Conference.
The conference was based around the theme of ‘Beyond year 12’— addressing the challenges school leavers face, with the aim of enhancing the students' preparedness for life after high school.
All the students had been participating in the Fast Forward Program for four years since they commenced in the program in Year 9.
During the conference, they were exposed to a series of wide-ranging interactive and informative sessions delivered by WSU academics and external partners.
Students selected two sessions from 36 workshops across various disciplines, which included degrees in medical science, law, nursing and midwifery, communications, business, psychology, social work, education, music and engineering.
Ellen Fanning who is an ABC Journalist and host of The Drum, was the guest speaker at the conference, and shared her own experience of higher education and those of her mother, a single parent, who was the first woman in their family to complete high school and go on to further study.
The Fast Forward Program is developed by Western Sydney University’s Office of Widening Participation and aims to raise educational aspirations for high school students from non-traditional backgrounds.