As a medical doctor, I’m used to fixing people’s problems as I see them. You come into the hospital with an issue, and we try to fix it. After a few years of clinical experience, however, I realised I wanted to do something to help people in a way that meant I’d never have to see them (in the nicest possible way). I was interested in keeping people happy and healthy and out of our hospitals. In pursuit of that, I commenced a Master of Public Health with the University of Sydney, supported by Westpac Scholars Trust and the Future Leader Scholarship.
I spent a lot of my time as a child playing video games. Exploring new worlds, battling monsters, acquiring power ups to progress through the story. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to the Westpac Future Leader Scholarship; I was looking for a power up, and it’s one of the best ones going.
Aside from the the generous financial support, the most attractive facet of the program was access to both the Leadership Development Program, aimed at bolstering your capabilities as a leader, and the W100 alumni Network. These are experiences and connections I would not have found elsewhere, and being awarded this scholarship really can’t be described as anything less than life-changing.
Give it the time it’s worth
To give yourself the best chance of being successful, you need to commit a reasonable amount of your time to the application. This scholarship is not a simple bursary; you need to demonstrate you are a good candidate for it, and the first step is a well thought out, insightful application. I treated it like an essay and chipped away at it over weeks so that I could be 100% happy with what I was submitting.
Use it as an opportunity to reflect
You will be asked about a broad scope of your endeavours and aspirations throughout the process. I found that through planning my answers, I was providing myself with a real opportunity to reflect on my career and life goals. Having a clear idea about these is integral regardless of how your application performs and will help with later stages of the process too.
Just do it
What’s central to your success here isn’t niche academic achievements, impressive internships or a laudable resume. It’s demonstrating drive and passion and wanting to do something bigger than yourself.
For more information, to nominate or apply for a Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship, visit the Westpac Scholars website.
