iTrack builds Melanie's confidence

With her grandparents unable to provide advice on current career pathways, Melanie says iTrack helped her gain the confidence and career guidance she hadn’t had before. And, with added support from a Smith Family Program Coordinator, she has a clear plan for becoming a counsellor.

“The Smith Family Coordinator had a talk to me and gave me more direction on specifically what I want to do. I’m going to hopefully change from the Cert III Community Services [at TAFE] to Youth Work because it’s more direct and what I want to do,” says Melanie.

After completing iTrack Melanie applied her newfound confidence and determination to her studies. Through hard work she caught up at school and even received three awards on graduation, including top English student.

That all changed when Melanie took part in our online mentoring program iTrack. The program connects Year 9 to 11 students to adult mentors to help them make effective study and career choices.

“I found it really helpful and very supportive because if I had any questions I could just ask [my mentor] freely and I knew who to go to straight away. [My mentor] was really easy to speak to,” says Melanie.

Now with a clear plan for her next chapter at TAFE, Melanie feels iTrack was instrumental in helping her gain the self-belief and knowledge to realise her potential.

“When I told my counsellor that I was thinking about becoming one, she said that she thought that I could do it because I have the self-confidence,” says Melanie.

Last year 88% of students who took part in iTrack said they felt confident they could achieve their career goals.

“Today I read to the whole class”, says Sam proudly.

Reading aloud in class had always been terrifying for Sam. In the lowest reading group at school, he was slipping further behind each day. But through our reading program student2student, Sam is now reading confidently and has done well in English for the very first time.

Twelve-year-old Rhianah excels at drama and science but she struggles to do her homework. As she prepares for secondary school, maths is becoming increasingly harder to understand. Through a Smith Family Learning Club, Rhianah has found a fun way to keep up with her homework.

In her fifth and final year of a nursing degree, Rhianah’s mum, Jessica, is working hard to improve their circumstances. Yet it leaves her little free time to assist Rhianah with her homework.