Jake Philpott

Jake Philpott’s interest in physiotherapy is very personal. When he was just three, his father sustained a back injury that led to a lifetime of chronic pain and physical disability. To make matters worse, the family didn’t have access to adequate healthcare.

“We didn’t know what questions to ask, or who to see to try to rectify the pain,” he says.

Sadly, his father passed away two years before Jake began studying his Bachelor of Physiotherapy as a mature student, but Jake says being that close to pain and disability sparked his desire to help others in similar situations.

The first in his family to attend university, Jake has battled difficult financial circumstances to pursue his career in physiotherapy.  “I knew that going to university would be a way to sort of get me out of that endless intergenerational cycle of relying on the government welfare,” he says. “To make a better life for myself and start a family.”

Apart from enduring financial hardship, Jake is currently living without housing stability throughout his university placement. Jake took his time selecting a university, eventually selecting Griffith because of both the reputation of their physiotherapy degree and the high level of support on offer for students. “I felt like Griffith really wanted me,” he says. But this meant he would always be studying far from where he considered home: the Sunshine Coast. Since then, he’s had to commute back and forth, constantly balancing the needs of his studies and his family. This is a particularly large ask, as he and his girlfriend have a baby on the way.

In the five years he’s been studying at Griffith, he’s slept various places including: a communal room in his mum’s housing commission unit on the Sunshine Coast, his girlfriend’s parents place, various short term room rentals, couches at mates’ places, and sometimes even in his car.

“Without a scholarship, I honestly don't think I would have been able to make it this far,” he says.

Receiving the Brighter Futures Scholarship has enabled Jake to put a secure roof over his head while on placement, while also maintaining excellent grades and pushing himself to create a brighter future for his family. “I’m so excited to have a bit of normalcy others take for granted, and this will enable me to work towards one day having a home of my own and being able to raise my baby with my partner in the one place.”

He attributes a large part of his success so far to the generosity of the scholarship donors.

“There are so many people out there like myself that have so much potential to thrive in the academic world, but just don't have the opportunity to do it, because of their family circumstances or their inherited socio-economic status, as I like to call it. They don't have that sort of financial support or, or they're not at that location. These scholarships create opportunity for people that have the potential to thrive.

“And that’s what I’m doing. I'm thriving … there's no way I would have been able to build my future for my family without that support.”