Exploring a love of learning

When Dr Alice Glover retired at the age of 69, she didn’t exactly sit back and rest on her laurels. Instead, she spent 12 months travelling in what she refers to as her “gap year”.

“I really admire her love of learning, especially because she does continue to keep her mind active,” Alvis Piksons, the inaugural recipient of the Alice Glover Scholarship and a second-year Arts student, said.

While there are plenty of differences between the pair – Alvis is studying media and communications, whereas Alice’s career spanned medicine, pharmacology, a medical advisory role and editing for a medical publication – that love of learning unites them.

Beyond a dedication to personal growth, Alice and Alvis also come from similar backgrounds financially.

“I was acutely aware of how perilous my financial situation was when I was a student,” Alice said.

Both her parents were teachers, though her mother focused on raising five children, while Alice’s father continued to teach. Despite his qualifications and experience, Alice said: “There was a sense of no matter how hard you worked, it didn’t necessarily mean you got rewarded financially.”

Although she remembers “being quite poor” growing up, Alice says the overriding memory of her childhood is learning to make the most of opportunities. She took the lesson to heart, embarking on a successful career that may not have been entirely straightforward, but was certainly enriching.

And now, by establishing a scholarship and ensuring its continuation through a gift in her Will, she is helping others – like Alvis – to seize those opportunities, too.

Alice established the scholarship in 2016 to support undergraduate students in financial need, particularly those from under-represented schools. Through a gift in her Will, her scholarship will continue to support students into the future. For now, she enjoys seeing the impact on recipients.

Alvis, who grew up in rural Gippsland, Victoria, said funds from the scholarship have helped with some practical purchases since relocating to Melbourne to attend the University. After wearing a school uniform for many years, he’s now able to “have more than just the very basic necessities, like a couple of different changes of clothes – a wardrobe even!”

More importantly, though, the scholarship has given him a sense of ease, allowing him to focus on his studies. Though he continues to look for supplementary employment while attending university to cover expenses, Alvis appreciates the fact that there is someone else backing him.

“I’ll be the first in my immediate family to graduate from university,” Alvis said. “Both my parents did study at university, but neither of them had enough money to complete their degrees."

“I take nothing for granted,” he said, adding: “The impact of the scholarship is more than just the money; it’s also the extra layer of support.”

With the continuation of the scholarship through a gift in her Will, Alice aimed to further support students in the future. She wants others to benefit from exposure to the university environment, “and that infinite sense of the possibilities of new knowledge”.

Through her work in medicine and science – which took her to Europe, the USA, and back to Australia – Alice said she was “lucky enough to be exposed to the fact that there is so much out there that nobody even knows yet”.

Now, she wants to give others the chance to discover those unexplored vaults of knowledge, too, regardless of the subject area or field, without feeling hindered by financial stress.

“It’s a pretty grim feeling, not knowing how you’re going to pay your bills,” Alice said, reflecting on her own university days.

But what’s even more important to her, she adds, is giving people the chance to know what they don’t know – and then, of course, the support to pursue their interests wholeheartedly.

The same holds true for Alvis, who has chosen to explore several music subjects in addition to his core media subjects. Though the courses aren’t directly related to his degree, he feels they are contributing to his personal and academic development – something Alice would agree is invaluable.

“For me, education is opening doors; that’s what it’s about,” she said.

She wants students, including Alvis, to have the freedom to find themselves. With the continuation of the Alice Glover Scholarship into the future, many more students will be granted that opportunity.

“It’s taken me 60 years to find myself,” Alice said light-heartedly, though she shows no signs of slowing down in her commitment to continue learning, exploring and discovering the things she doesn’t know – yet.

A ‘living bequest’, like Alice Glover’s scholarship, is a special gift commenced during your lifetime and finalised with a gift in your Will. For further information about including a gift to the University in your Will, or making a living bequest in your lifetime, please call the Gifts in Wills team on +61 3 9035 3489 or email bequests-office@unimelb.edu.au