An OP1 student from Sippy Downs is a step closer to her dream of working in humanitarian aid after receiving a $32,000 scholarship to study Nursing and Midwifery at USC.

Brisbane School of Distance Education graduate Hannah Guijt was working with underprivileged families on a gap year in Asia when she heard that she had been awarded a Thompson Excellence Scholarship for academic excellence.

The talented 18-year-old said receiving the financial boost, funded by philanthropists Roy and Nola Thompson, had given her even more motivation to succeed in her combined Bachelor of Nursing Science/Bachelor of Midwifery at USC.

“I enrolled at USC after spending a gap year volunteering in Romania and Asia, where I was exposed to how many people are living without basic health care,” she said. “It made me realise how essential nursing and midwifery skills would be in those settings.

“I’m so grateful to have received this scholarship. It means I won’t have to work during university and I’ll be able to really focus on my studies.

“I’d love to work for the Red Cross or the Royal Flying Doctors Service one day.”

Having lived in Holland until she was eight years old, Hannah was home-schooled for a number of years before completing her final two years of high school through distance education.

“I’m really enjoying my USC studies so far,” she said. “Coming from a distance education background, the combination of independent study and interaction with peers at tutorials really suits me.

“I can’t wait to delve further into the health world and hopefully be able to make a real difference in the humanitarian field.”

Hannah is among the first cohort of USC students to use the state-of-the-art education and training facilities at the Sunshine Coast Health Institute, which is located within the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

— Gen Kennedy