Supporting outstanding students
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| USQ Chancellor Bobbie Brazil with scholarship recipients Kimberley Rann, Angus Blackman and Callie Gibbings. |
Creating opportunities for students is a key priority for University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Chancellor Bobbie Brazil and her husband, Lyn, who generously support outstanding students each year through the Chancellor's Scholarship.
Valued at $4K per year, the scholarship is awarded to high achieving undergraduate students who have been actively involved in extra-curricular and community activities.
As part of their generous commitment to the University, the Brazil family have donated $10K per year for the past three years towards this scholarship. Last year the Brazil family also gave $100K to the USQ Faculty of Engineering for work on alternate energy, which is currently supporting a PhD student and other research initiatives within the Faculty.
In recognition of this generosity, the USQ Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bill Lovegrove, recently hosted an afternoon tea to thank the Brazil family.
'The Chancellor and her husband, Lyn, are very interested in student success and celebrating student achievements and I would like to thank the Brazil Family for their contributions to the Chancellor's Scholarship fund and their support for energy research in the Faculty of Engineering.'
During the event, Mrs Brazil spoke with scholarship recipients and endorsed her support for the scholarship'It's a great privilege to be a Chancellor of such a fine institution and it's too good an opportunity not to endorse USQ initiatives and support student achievement,' said Mrs Brazil.
A qualified lawyer, Mrs Brazil is a partner in a successful broad-scale dryland and irrigation farming businesses on the Darling Downs and in the Northern Territory and is a passionate advocate of education, industry and resource management.
'I was the first member of my family to go to university and it's transformational. For rural students particularly, a regional university provides access and opens up the world to you.'
These sentiments were echoed by students at a recent afternoon tea, held by the University to thank the Brazil family for their generosity.
'The scholarship changes your whole life,' said current Chancellor's Scholarship recipient, Callie Gibbings.
'Even being short-listed gives you confidence - and that filters out to people around you and encourages them to be their best – it's made it a possible, achievable goal for people from my old school, St Saviour's College Toowoomba.'
2008 Chancellor's Scholarship recipient, Angus Blackman graduated from Mt Tamborine State High School with an OP1 in 2007 and is currently studying a Bachelor of Theatre Arts at USQ.
The ambitious actor said his scholarship money has helped significantly this semester.
'Hugely. It takes a lot of pressure off. I am in a play at home called Crash and I have to go back every weekend to rehearse for that. I would not be able to take that opportunity if it weren't for a scholarship.'
Fellow scholarship recipient, Kimberley Rann, is currently in her final year of a combined Bachelor of Education (Secondary)/Bachelor of Drama degree.
A Toowoomba local, Kimberley graduated from Harristown State High School in 2004 and used the money to pay off her HECS debt during her first year of study.
'In my second year I bought a motorcycle so I could travel to my practical placements and during my third year I went on a tour of the North and South islands of New Zealand during mid-semester break.
'This year I am using the money to support my living expenses while I am on prac placements in Stanthorpe and Miles.'
With graduation in her sights, the energetic student is now looking to the future.
'I would love to teach out west for a couple of years and then go overseas. I've had some experience working in St George and Dirranbandi and really enjoyed that.'
Please contact the University on 1800 269 500 or via email at study@usq.edu.au for more information about scholarships at USQ.
Media Contact: Amy Cass, USQ Media +61 7 4631 2092