‘I tried to contest my HECS’: 22-year-old Aussie goes from university drop out to running successful business

A young Aussie has revealed the moment she decided to quit uni after finding out just how much it would cost her to complete her degree.

When Sammy Kennedy found out it would cost her $90,000 to complete a university degree, she felt “frustrated” to the point that she gave up on her tertiary education altogether.

Ms Kennedy, 22, was studying a bachelor of health science majoring in acupuncture and Chinese medicine when the pandemic changed everything.

She was in her second year of her four-year degree when her class shrunk from 30 to three students, and she watched as her peers and lecturers left due to the mandatory vaccination policies.

“At the same time the college underwent a significant restructuring after being acquired by an international company,” she told news.com.au.

“This transition invalidated nearly all of the 24 units that I’d completed with only three being accredited towards the new degrees they brought out.

“Meaning that I would have to restart my degree again, adding four years and a further $90,000 debt on top of the $45,000 I’d accumulated from my two years of study.”

She found out she would have to restart her degree. Picture: TikTok

The 22-year-old dropped out of University. Picture: Instagram/ sammykennedycoach

Ms Kennedy was devastated, and the hefty fees made her “discontinue” her studies altogether because the system felt so unwinnable.

Even though she dropped out, she’s still left with a $45,000 debt, and even that amount makes her feel frustrated.

“The fact that it keeps rising with inflation makes it feel like a weight that never really goes away. Looking back, I think it’s often overlooked how much you’re actually committing to when you sign up for a degree at 17 or 18,” she said.

“Most of us don’t fully grasp the long-term impact, especially when it comes to things like applying for a home loan later on.”

She’s also sour that the she’s been lumped with debt even though her degree completely changed throughout her studies.

“What’s been even harder to swallow is that my degree ended up being chopped, changed, and eventually cancelled altogether,” she said.

“I tried to contest the HECS debt, but they only allow reviews within 12 months of withdrawing. By then, it was too late. I was overwhelmed, angry, and unsure who to turn to for help and in that sh**show, I missed the window to act.”

“There’s a part of me that still feels guilty for not pushing harder at the time. But that experience taught me a lot about self-advocacy, resilience, and taking control of my financial future.”

She would have ended up in $90k debt if she finished a degree. Picture: Instagram/ sammykennedycoach

She's pivoted to helping others run their businesses. Picture: Instagram/ sammykennedycoach

The 22-year-old said the experience left her feeling like university was simply a “structured path into the workforce designed to create employees for organisations”.

“Most people are capped in their earning potential unless they’re in sales or commission-based roles,” she said.

“You’re also putting all your trust into a company to pay you, yet the moment they face financial hardship, hours can be cut or roles made redundant.”

The whole university experience made her realise that she didn’t want to trust “someone else to control” her income, so she decided to start her own businesses.

She’d been involved in her family’s businesses since she was a kid, including a bowling alley and a drive-in cinema, but not all ventures had worked out.

At once point the family were in $500,000 debt because a racing motion simulator business flopped.

Ms Kennedy said she was aware of the risks of focusing solely on running her own business but was determined to make it work.

She said making so much money has helped her believe in herself. Picture: iStock

Even when she was at university, she worked over 50 hours a week in between classes running her own beauty salon, Glamour Goddess Beauty Artistry.

That venture netted her around $10,000 a month and gave her the confidence to kickstart a coaching and consulting business drawing on her ability to regroup after failure.

Once she decided to invest in her coaching business, it didn’t take long for her to start bringing in $20,000 monthly just from helping others.

‘I remember hitting my first $20K month in September 2023 and instead of celebrating, I froze. I was proud, but I was also terrified. I kept thinking, ‘What if it disappears? What if this is just a fluke,” she said.

“It brought up a lot of imposter syndrome and deep-rooted money trauma I didn’t even realise I was carrying. Hitting that level of success felt unfamiliar and almost unsafe at first.”

The business has just grown and grown. Picture: Instagram/ sammykennedycoach

Despite her concerns, it only grew from there, and she’s now in a position where she’s pulled in $500,000 in 14 weeks in 2025.

She said that number represented so much more to her than income; it showed her that investing in herself was the smartest decision she could have made.

“It was the moment everything finally felt worth it. Every struggle, every failure, every time I questioned if it was all going to work, but now it led me to this.

“More than the money, it showed me what’s possible. And weirdly, it now feels like it’s only just the beginning.

“I get to take the skills, lessons, and strategies I’ve learnt and share them on a bigger scale: trialling things inside my own business, and then passing on the wins to my coaching and consulting clients,” she said.

Even though she’s running a profitable business at this point, Ms Kennedy has stayed dogged in her pursuit of growth.

She’s not investing in property just yet. Instead, she’s focusing on the business.

“I made myself a promise when I started my own business journey. The first two years – reinvest everything back into you, so you know how to make more money,” she said.

Originally published as ‘I tried to contest my HECS’: 22-year-old Aussie goes from university drop out to running successful business