Scholarship success for gifted students

Inspirational first-year students Georgina Morphett and Nicholas Banks have joined an elite group of Australians to be awarded a prestigious Charles Hawker Scholarship.

Academically gifted and with a passion for improving the lives of others, both Georgina and Nicholas have won a residency at the University of Adelaide's St Mark's College.

Nicholas has the distinction of being the 100th recipient of the national scholarship which was introduced in 1990 in memory of pastoral pioneer and statesman Charles Allan Seymour Hawker.

"It's a real honour to be awarded the scholarship and to be given the opportunity to taste college life while at university," said Nicholas. "St Mark's is a great environment with its lifestyle and strong academic support program."

Georgina, 18, and Nicholas, 19, are two of just four students named Charles Hawker Scholars this year, together with Alice Dawkins and Tristian Delroy from Australian National University.

Both are studying Bachelor of Laws, with Nicholas also doing a Bachelor of International Studies and Georgina a Bachelor of Arts.

For students at the start of their higher education, both have impressive résumés.

A country girl from the upper Yorke Peninsula, Georgina has multiple interests including a strong passion for human rights, an area she wants to pursue in her future career.

She represents South Australia on the Federal Government's Australian Youth Forum Steering Committee, a role that takes her to various national events and brings her into close contact with School Education, Early Childhood and Youth Minister Peter Garrett.

She is also Deputy Chair of the Minister's Youth Council which provides policy advice to SA Minister for Youth Tony Piccolo.

A keen netballer, Georgina is also a qualified swimming and lifesaving instructor, and a nationally competitive sailor.

"Being awarded a Charles Hawker Scholarship is a great honour and the fact that the Trustees appreciate my values is humbling," said Georgina.

Nicholas is a champion debater and was national runner- up in the Plain English Speaking Awards, representing Australia at the international competition in London.

He's also had a long association with the scouts, achieving the highest Queen Scout Award and last year was named one of the three most outstanding scouts in the Asia-Pacific region.

Also in 2012, Nicholas returned to Africa for the second time through his work supporting The Kalahari Experience, an ongoing project to improve education and health in remote southern Africa.

Together with Georgina, he was a member of the South Australian Youth Parliament and they were each awarded the prestigious Governor of South Australia SACE Commendation.

Each scholarship is worth up to $45,000 over three years, making it one of the most generous privately funded scholarships available to Australian undergraduate and postgraduate students.