Your community is ready to back you: Haylee Murrell

Past recipient from the Gunnedah Community Scholarship Fund, Haylee Murrell has told this year’s group of awardees that the local community is ready to back them.

Ms Murrell, who studied a Bachelor of Agriculture at the University of New England, drew from her own experience as a university student who commenced her studies with support from the fund.

She was the guest-of-honour at the recent presentation night where 31 recipients were announced.

Ms Murrell now works at Pursehouse Rural Gunnedah as a second-year agronomist.

“I was exactly where you were, just seven years ago. The nerves and excitement setting in, your next chapter about to begin,” Ms Murrell told the gathering assembled in The Civic.

“Like so many of you, I was ready to jump out of Gunnedah, spread my wings and explore the world. I didn’t explore too far because COVID kicked me right back home shortly after.

“My journey was far from smooth sailing. In fact, it resonated something similar to the Titanic, and I was Jack. I started in a Bachelor of Rural Science in 2019, and I quite literally failed.

“I failed three or four of my units in my first trimester. Another two in my second trimester, and I felt like I was drowning.

“Everyone else seemed to be swimming just fine. I was frantically trying to keep my head above water. I was that embarrassed, ashamed even.

“I had done my academic studies so highly when at school, so why was I not coping now? When did it get so bloody hard?

“I didn’t reach out to anyone. 
I continued to struggle alone, being miss independent. Pushing away help, and not using the readily available resources UNE had.

“I swear, I was like talking to a brick wall during this period.”

Ms Murrell said she finally admitted she was getting in over her head in about 2021.

“My legs were exhausted from wading the water, and I knew I couldn’t continue failing all my units. I didn’t want to let anyone down. I finally asked for help. 
Who would have thought?

“I transferred to the Bachelor of Agriculture, and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I propelled through my remaining 18 months of uni, actually getting better than a pass.”

In 2024, after what she described as a very long uphill battle, Ms Murrell graduated with her bachelor’s degree, something she acknowledged was the longest and the hardest thing she ever had to do.

“But gosh, that piece of paper feels just like $30,000. I wouldn’t change my journey one bit,” she said.

“The people that I met, the lessons that I have learned … it all shaped me to be who I am today.

“When I was asked to speak tonight, all I could think of was what I wish someone had told me. I wish someone had been authentic and I wish someone had said that it sometimes doesn’t always go the way you plan.

“So tonight. I want to impart some advice. I hope it makes your journey 10 times easier than mine.

“Number one, community. Have your community, whether that is the people in this room, the Gunnedah Shire, your parents, your high school friends, your new friends at university, have a support crew that know what you are doing. Allow those people to distract you when you’re sick of your studies.

“Allow them to hold you up and encourage you when you’re two weeks into exams and you still have two to go. 
Build your community and don’t be afraid to use them.

“Number two, don’t be afraid to fail. God, I wish someone had told me this. 
Failing doesn’t mean you were any less of a person.

“It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be there. It just means you may need to do an extra hour to study than advised. 
You might need a tutor. Maybe you learn differently to the way you were taught in school. Be open that things might not go your way straight away and find a way to make them suit you. 
This is your education.

“Number three, say yes to every opportunity. The best memory I have from university are the unexpected ones. 
The scholarships I was awarded, the New Zealand trip I did for a unit, the jobs I unexpectedly got.

“The friends I met and the places I saw. All because I stuck my hand up and said yes to everything. 
These are the opportunities which shape you into who you are.

“Use your scholarship to the best of your ability. I wouldn’t have survived my first two years without it.

“It helped me afford a tutor, my textbooks, helped me afford milk, Milo, all the essentials, and even the countless amounts of chocolate that sometimes required me to get through a late night of study.

“I couldn’t have done it without my community. So this is your community. 
They are ready to back you in whatever way that looks like for you.

“Go forth, be brave, be kind, stick your hand up to the out-of-reach things, and most importantly, enjoy yourself. The journey is yours.”