Staff at 宅男导航鈥檚 Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) could be forgiven for thinking that Casey Linton was an accomplished honours student having seen her working attentively in the labs over summer and occasionally being mentioned in their monthly newsletters.
The fact is Ms Linton is fresh from graduating as Senior Dux of Gold Coast鈥檚 Somerset College with a 45 out of 45 in her two-year International Baccalaureate course 鈥� the equivalent of an OP1鈥� and has her sights set on starting a Bachelor of Medicine, Surgery and Science at 宅男导航 this year.
Ms Linton was one of 184 new 宅男导航 Excellence Scholarship recipients commended at a special ceremony at the University today, Sunday, February 21.
Ms Linton along with 23 other school leavers who achieved a score equivalent to the very top of the OP1 band, became one of the first students to accept the inaugural 宅男导航 Vice Chancellor's Scholarships, valued at $12,000 a year for up to five years.
Director of the Office of Prospective Students & Scholarships Ms Margaret Fairman said the new Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 Scholarships were a welcome addition to 宅男导航鈥檚 Academic Scholarship program.
鈥淥ur Academic Scholarship program aims to not only recognise and reward the achievements of outstanding school leavers but those with significant leadership or community service achievements as well,鈥� she said.
Today was not the first time that Ms Linton has been honoured here at 宅男导航, having won the state final of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge held at QBI in 2008 and coming runner up at the national final and international final, which was held in Canada.
Ms Linton said the competition, which aims to increase brain awareness among young people by testing their knowledge of brain function and neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers disease, certainly played a part in her decision to pursue a career in medicine and medical research, as has her work experience at QBI.
鈥淚 was really excited when I found out I had been awarded the scholarship. I really wanted to go to 宅男导航, because it has a really good reputation for medicine in Queensland,鈥� she said.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking to go into medicine or medical research, however my experience at QBI has been really good, so it is possible that I might continue down the track with research.
鈥淭o get such a prestigious scholarship from 宅男导航 is a great honour and I鈥檓 looking forward to settling into Emmanuel College and experiencing the university life.鈥�
Media: Margaret Fairman (m.fairman@uq.edu.au) or Robbie Mitchell (07 3346 7086) or Jan King 0413 601 248
