Jade Eaves

Jade Eaves, 2022 Brighter Futures Scholarship recipient

Jade Eaves has overcome unfathomable challenges—including battles with ADHD and anxiety—to become one of Griffith University’s highest achievers.

The dedicated Bachelor of Forensic Science/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice student scores regular Academic Achievement Awards and is a Peer Mentor, student volunteer and Chancellor’s Scholarship recipient.

Despite her significant accomplishments, Jade’s sense of success is tempered by challenges with her mental health, exacerbated by her complicated upbringing and relentless desire to improve and achieve.

Instead of being able to relish the high grades on her transcript, Jade’s chronic anxiety keeps her focused on what she could have done differently.

“Getting good results tells me I’m capable and help keep me afloat, but for me any positive feeling’s very fleeting,” she says.

Excelling at full-time study under those conditions is a big achievement. Doing so without family or financial support is another degree of difficulty altogether.

Jade’s hard work and potential was recognised with a $5,000 Brighter Futures Scholarship, which has helped her put aside worry about making ends meet and allowed her to focus on study and improving herself.

“It’s a huge benefit to be able to take away that external financial pressure, especially when you have a tendency to put pressure on yourself,” she says.

The support of the scholarship made 2021 one of her best years yet—she achieved the high grades needed to win her third Academic Achievement Award and made huge strides with her mental health.

Jade's Brighter Futures Scholarship also gave her resources to finally get her driver’s licence, a rite of passage she’d been denied as a teenager without parents to give her lessons.

At just 15 years old, Jade had to leave home and high school.

She put aside lifelong ambitions to study forensic science and worked in retail and cleaning to support herself, knowing she had much more to give.

“Working years in average jobs, there was frustration in having people talk down to me knowing I was capable of achieving more, but I only had a Year 10 Certificate,” she says.

After excelling in a bridging course to meet entry requirements for university, she was accepted to study at Griffith and made the move to Brisbane to follow her dreams.

For Jade, her Brighter Futures Scholarship represents much more than a financial boost during a challenging period.

“It feels like the Griffith community saying 'we care about and believe in you and think you are capable'; it makes me feel seen and heard and that's hugely rewarding and empowering.”