Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs iTrack builds Melanie's confidence
31 March 2014
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.
When I came into high school I struggled a bit because I didn’t have the level of education that I am getting now. It definitely affected my confidence and made me feel a bit low.
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.
She just broke down and cried. She said she never thought she would achieve what she had.
With the help The Smith Family programs, students are able to get the life changing out-of-school learning support they need to enhance their learning and development skills.
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