Adrienne travelled 571 kilometers northwest of Sydney, to a little town called Wee Waa to tutor three students from a local school in math. One of the students was in Year 6, but their knowledge of math was at a Year 3 level. 

“It was heartbreaking and eye-opening. It made me realise how kids who grow up in rural areas can be severely disadvantaged because they do not receive the same level of teaching as to what I grew up with”. 

Through a week of providing one-on-one tutoring to this student, Adrienne was amazed with the results. 

“At the beginning of the week, the student had not given a university degree a thought, but by the end of it, she was full of confidence and told me to wait for her because she would hopefully also be at university soon”. 

Adrienne really enjoyed her time spent with the Rural Program and jumped on the opportunity when she was offered to join the new executive team for the organisations operations in NSW.  

The team is doing really well and is already widening their reach. 

“Excitingly, we have expanded to one other school in NSW, near Orange, but as most of the team members are students from UNSW, we also decided to start a Teach Learn Grow Club on campus to get more students involved”. 

The purpose of this newly affiliated Arc Club is to recruit university students to participate in the Rural Program, host fundraising events and create a social environment for its members. 

So far, the Club has been a success with many students showing their interest. Just at O-Week, over 164 students came by their stall to sign up for the Rural Program. 

“We’ve had an incredible response from UNSW students, meaning that we can keep on expanding to additional schools and help more rural students. We are only in the early stages of being a Club and so it will be exciting to see how far we can reach!” 

Interested in becoming a member of this Arc Club? Have a look here.