The Catenian Charity Inc has awarded a scholarship of $2500 per semester for 2025 to an Adelaide student, Jessica (Jess) Tresidder, who attended Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier, South Australia from 2018 until she graduated as a Year 12 student in 2022.

Jess was an outstanding student throughout her time at Tenison Woods. She applied herself as a student and graduated with an outstanding ATAR of 97.85, receiving a Governor of South Australia Commendation – Excellence Award. She is also to be commended for being accepted into the University of South Australia’s Accelerate Program.

During her time at Tenison Woods she always demonstrated a driving desire to learn and achieve, setting herself high standards and goals. Through her hard work and dedication she achieved excellence. Jess had outstanding interpersonal skills and willingly participated in extra-curricular activities.

Early in 2022, Jess was accepted into the University of South Australia Accelerate Program.

Jess has had to overcome significant personal challenges and hardship throughout her life having been a child of the Guardianship of the Minister with her younger brother Josh and having spent time in foster care. She has been a constant support to her brother in the role of a parent figure as well as a sister. Despite these difficulties, she has become an exemplary, caring, thoughtful and entrepreneurial young woman. She is a consistently hard worker and a respected role model always looking out for other people.

Experience and achievements

At the age of 16 as a secondary school student, Jess founded an e-commerce business, Wild Hazel Designs which makes keychains to hold a driver’s license. She initially made keychains to give to friends and the Department of Child Protection in Mount Gambier. Her initiative received substantial media coverage in prominent platforms such as ABC Online, News.com.au and SA Life. The business achieved rapid success within 12 weeks of launch, driving 100,000 + store visits and expanding to 327 cities nationwide. She managed the daily operations of a busy commerce store demonstrating strong organisational and time-management skills, setting her apart with skills and experiences uncommon for someone at her stage of life.

While studying at the University of South Australia Jess became a research assistant at the Ehrenberg Bass Institute (April 2023 – present). The Ehrenberg Bass Institute is the world’s largest marketing research centre, supported by brands like Coca-Cola, Unilever and Nestlé. In her role she supported the team on a contract basis with data coding, analysis, literature reviews and proofreading academic papers and industry reports.

Jess has also gained hands-on experience in public relations and communications as a Public Relations intern with Kicker Communications (October 2023 – present). In her role she regularly engages with media and diverse stakeholders, which has sharpened her communication and teamwork skills.

As a volunteer, Jess has a remarkable record. She has worked as a media ambassador and donor for the South Australian Government Department of Child Protection (July 2024 – present), Aged Care Visitors Scheme volunteer (March 2024 – present), Villagehood Australia volunteer (July 2023 – May 2024), Ac.care volunteer (Jan 2022- 2023) and CESA Social Entrepreneurship curriculum volunteer (July 2022).

At the University of South Australia, Jess is now entering her second year studying for a Business and Marketing Degree. She sees herself in business or marketing in the future and admires businesses that make a difference. In her own words, she says “It’s always more important to me to give.”