From homelessness to a PhD: Scholarships changing lives in Sydney’s west

Alisha Johnson grew up in part living on the streets and now she is a frontline nurse fighting Covid - all thanks to a scholarship at the University of Western Sydney.

From homelessness to a PhD ­candidate and a senior nurse on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19 – Alisha Johnson’s life completely changed when she was given a scholarship to study at Western Sydney University.

At 13, she started working to ­support her family financially while at the same time taking on a role as carer for a relative.

“I grew up on the streets at times, I was also a young carer,” the now-29-year-old Campbelltown local told The Telegraph ahead of Western Sydney University’s ­Giving Day, a major fundraiser for future scholarships and health research, to be held on Wednesday.

Already the first in her family to finish high school, she started studying at Sydney University, but was forced to drop out to continue working to help her household.

Western Sydney University Vice Chancellor Professor Barney Glover and former WSU scholarship recipient and now PHD candidate Alisha Johnson. Picture: Adam Yip

In a last-ditch attempt to get a tertiary education, she applied for a scholarship at Western Sydney University, where she was awarded the Enid Helen Hort Scholarship in 2013 to study a Bachelor of advanced nursing.

“It completely changed the trajectory of my family and myself. I think I’ve been able to break the poverty cycle of my family and give myself and other people hope that if you come from a disadvantaged background there is help available and opportunities available.”

She has since gone on to attain three separate master degrees, while she is now studying a PhD in the oral health of adolescents with ­mental illness, at the same time working as a nurse unit manager in a Western Sydney hospital battling against Covid-19.

The high-achiever will join Wednesday for the university’s Giving Day – a 24-hour fundraising campaign, including an all-star penalty shootout at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium, preceded by a 15km walk from Lake Parramatta.