The UQ Young Achievers Program was launched in 2009 to assist students from low-income backgrounds to access tertiary education. The students are from state schools, and often rural Queensland, where they will be the first in their family to attend tertiary education. So far over 370 Young Achievers have been welcomed to the program.
MineGeoTech’s sponsorship of the University of Queensland (UQ) was further extended in 2018, with the MineGeoTech Scholarship within the Aspire Scholarship Initiative. The MineGeoTech Scholarship provides commencing students who have experienced financial hardship with financial support to assist them with their transition to tertiary study and is for students in engineering, science, technology and mathematics disciplines from remote and very remote areas.
It would be a dream to be involved in conservation, to have a career in conservative research and perhaps be a consultant.
We are happy to see scholarship recipients doing well and thriving in their STEM field, helping to shape the world for the current and future generations. One such recipient is Louise Sainsbury, who is in the 1st year of her Bachelor of Marine Biology degree.
We reached out to see how she is enjoying the university lifestyle, and how this scholarship has shaped her educational pathway.
Tell us about yourself, where you grew up, and your family.
I grew up in a rural town called Gayndah, which is about a 4-hour drive from Brisbane. I lived there until I was 21 and now live in North Brisbane. I went to a Catholic school for my primary years than a public high school that had only 200-300 students when I was there (in total!). I am the youngest out of my 3 siblings and out of my immediate family, I am the first to go to university.
What inspired you to pursue higher education and go into this specific STEM field of study?
I’ve always wanted to study to become a marine biologist and when I was in high school in my 12t year, we went on a year 12 camp to visit Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane. Seeing these universities and talking with some of the lecturers gave me the confidence to pursue higher education. Whenever I was little, my family and I would sometimes go to the beach. I enjoyed every trip and it made me curious on what exactly is out there in those waters. Thus, I chose a Bachelor of Science with a major in Marine Biology.
Aspire Scholarship Spotlight Case Study
Read more about her journey in our Aspire Scholarship Spotlight Case Study below:
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