Content
Major scholarship for student aiming to teach
A 24-year-old Moffat Beach student has received a $12,000 Academic Excellence scholarship from the University of the Sunshine Coast to help pursue his ambition to be a primary school teacher.
James Baker last week started a USC Bachelor of Primary Education after receiving one of three Renouf Family Scholarships.
He joins his partner Lisa Pugsley on campus at Sippy Downs, where she is studying a Nutrition and Dietetics degree.
“We grew up in Sydney and Newcastle and had been travelling in North America when we decided it was time to get professions,” James said.
“We looked into unis across Australia because we knew what we wanted to study but not where to go. USC had a really good environment – close to the beach, not a big city.”
James and Lisa moved to the Sunshine Coast last September and James completed several courses with USC’s Tertiary Preparation Pathway program.
“I’d done a TAFE advanced diploma of music business but hadn’t studied since 2006 and I wanted to reiterate those processes of learning,” he said.
“I ended up getting accepted through QTAC anyway, but TPP was a huge help and it made me a lot more comfortable when I started my degree last week.”
Renouf Family Scholarships are awarded for high academic achievement, leadership skills and financial need.
“The scholarship is awesome because it will give me extra support,” James said. “As my workload banks up at uni I might need to cut back on my part-time hospitality job and this will allow me to do that.”
James, whose mother has taught and counselled at schools, said he expected primary teaching to be rewarding and motivating.
“My first week was really good. The USC lecturers obviously have so much experience and knowledge and they know the tricks of how to teach Education to make it entertaining for us too.”
He was among 67 students who gained scholarships, ranging in value from $3,500 to $12,000, at USC’s annual Undergraduate Scholarships Presentation Ceremony during Orientation Week.
– Julie Gatehouse