“The winning edge is perseverance and determination, and a helping hand,” Charlotte said. But she is acutely aware that many in the system are missed, and survive on “sheer grit”.
That is why Charlotte and her husband Andrew Gilbertson set up the Gilbertson Family Scholarship in 2008, to provide one-on-one tutoring to University of Tasmania students with a specific learning difficulty. The scholarship is open to students in any field of study for the duration of their degree.
“We are hopeful the scholarship provides what each student needs along their path to success,” Charlotte said.
One recent recipient who has benefited is engineering student Sarah Ransome. Sarah said the tutoring provided was helpful throughout her degree, particularly in her honours year, which presented a major challenge for someone with dyslexia. Her honours project was highly technical and concerned understanding the response of electric vehicles to power system faults.
"My thesis was 18,000 words — a large piece of written work. It was a lot of words and a lot of research,” Sarah said.
“My tutor was really good at helping me get it into a form that presented well — I would have struggled a lot without his support.”
Charlotte said one of her most delightful meetings with recipients was at a University lunch for donors and students.
“One of the students we were assisting stopped me in my tracks and asked, ‘How do you know what we need?’
“She was amazed that there was a person out there who knew about dyslexia and what was needed to support her at university,” Charlotte said.
Charlotte adds that a tutor qualified in teaching and education can provide vital assistance in organising written work and proofreading.
“The exciting thing is the number of students it has been able to offer assistance to — the offer is there, and the students run with it,” she said.
“When it started, the University of Tasmania was unique in offering a scholarship like this.”
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