Students net New Colombo Plan scholarships

Two University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) students’ lives have changed forever after being awarded a prestigious New Colombo Plan scholarship.

Hamida Nazari and Hayden Kane are among 150 Australian undergraduate students who will travel to the Indo-Pacific region to live, study and intern.

The New Colombo Plan is an Australian Government initiative that aims to strengthen the country’s ties with the Indo-Pacific region by providing students with study and work experience opportunities.

Miss Nazari moved to Toowoomba from Afghanistan in 2017 to study a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Relations.

Miss Nazari said she choked up with excitement when she found out she was a successful applicant.

“I was on a break during my work shift when I read the congratulatory email. I was so excited that I ran back to the office and, almost crying, told my visibly concerned supervisor, ‘I did it. I got the scholarship’,” she said.

Miss Nazari will soon fly to Seoul, South Korea, where she will spend a semester studying at Yonsei University.

“I will be studying politics and international law from an Asia-Pacific perspective, which is going to expand my learning significantly,” she said.

She also plans to undertake a six-month internship at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in the Public Information department where she will be assisting in the production and distribution of public information about the organisation and its activities.

“I also intend to undertake a Korean language program so I can return with a better understanding of the South Korean way of life and share my experience and learnings here in Australia,” she said.

An online student who lives in Brisbane’s north, Mr Kane will experience life as a full-time student at The Education University of Hong Kong, where he will study subjects that complement his Bachelor of Education (Secondary).

He also plans to learn Cantonese and intern at an international school in Hong Kong where he will observe the use of effective pedagogies in classrooms of different cultures and look to implement them in his own teaching practice.

“The New Colombo Plan scholarship has changed the course of my life as it has opened doors I never thought possible,” Mr Kane said.

“It will help build my skills portfolio as a secondary teacher and learn new teaching and learning perspectives in a cross-cultural environment.

“I aim to bring those skills and knowledge back to Australia to make me a more effective teacher in my community.”

Both Mr Kane and Miss Nazari urged other students who have an interest in studying overseas to apply once the 2024 round of the New Colombo Plan scholarship program opens.