A Riverina mother of two boys has exemplified resilience and strength to be awarded TAFE Wagga’s student of the year at the 2018 graduations today.
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Tara Martin, a 34-year-old Leeton resident, has overcome the tragedy of losing her husband to a workplace accident this year to complete her qualifications in cookery.
She secured the Outstanding Achievement Award for for her efforts in a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery.
An emotional Mrs Martin said this year had been “an extremely hard year”.
“Just pushing forward for my boys and I’m pretty proud,” she said.
“They’ll be extremely happy – all the hard work that I’ve done has paid off and it’s all for them.”
Asked about how she managed to find the resilience, she said it was trying to set a good example for her sons, aged 10 and 14.
“You can achieve anything when you set your mind to it,” Mrs Martin said.
“I just had to dig deep down and find the strength.
“I’ve always wanted to be a chef...staying focused really helped me find the strength to push through.”
I’ve always wanted to be a chef...staying focused really helped me find the strength to push through.
- Tara Martin, 2018 student of the year at TAFE Wagga
During her time at the Wagga campus, she travelled from Leeton and said “it was all worth it”.
“I’m hoping in the next year or two to move up to Brisbane, take my career up that way and see how far I can go up there,” she said.
Mrs Martin was one of 720 graduates honoured for their hard work and determination at the Civic Theatre.
Four other awards were given, including the Rotary Leadership and the Peters Construction Trust awards.
Fiona Bance, teacher of commercial cookery at TAFE Wagga, praised Mrs Martin’s efforts, saying it was a privilege “to have a student of her quality and passion”.
“I know her employer at the Leeton Hotel believes the same thing,” Mrs Bance said.
“With some of the hardships she’s experience, she’s a very brave girl and done a really good job.
“We had quite a large class and within that class, it was quite a close-knit class.”
The graduations were the first time it was held at the Civic Theatre.
TAFE NSW Regional General Manager Kerry Penton congratulated all the graduates and said the ceremony was a fitting recognition of the students’ commitment to improving their skills and, ultimately, their lives.
“It’s wonderful to see so many graduates investing in their futures by studying at TAFE NSW,” Ms Penton said.
“For many of them, that involves making short-term personal sacrifices in the knowledge that the skills they learn at TAFE NSW will help them further their careers.
“To see those students up on stage being cheered on by their family, friends and classmates is very special.”
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