For student Lauren King, 21, from Robina, the chance to study at Griffith University on the Gold Coast has been a gift.
The fourth year Bachelor of Psychology with Honours student – originally from Albury, NSW – had managed to get into the top 5% of the state’s HSC results during year 12, so was no stranger to hard work.
“I had always dreamed of studying psychology in a warm coastal environment, but I was also concerned about the financial implications as I knew that I would be supporting myself, so once school had finished I wrote to several universities in other states to see what assistance they could offer.”
It took a while for a response to come back to Lauren and by the time she received the offer of a Griffith scholarship, she was already hitching a lift to the Sunshine State with a friend.
“It was crazy I know but I was really keen to get up to Queensland and knew that I would be able to make a success of things, whatever happened. It just so happened that the letter from Griffith came on the day I was leaving!”
The first in her family to go to uni
The first in her family to go to university, studying at Griffith has brought Lauren a range of great opportunities and experiences.
Having maintained a GPA above 6 for the first three years of her degree, she is now full swing into her fourth year during which she has joined the Griffith Honours College.
Designed for outstanding students, the Griffith Honours College provides students with enriching experiences in combination with undergraduate degree studies.
“Last year I undertook an internship with Arafmi, a Brisbane-based support group for mentally ill people and their families. It was really good to work as a telephone counsellor, supporting people during difficult times and it drew on lots of my psychology degree experience.”
During 2012, Lauren was also lucky enough to secure a place on a one semester exchange program with Hawaii Pacific University where she undertook in-depth study into sex and gender psychology.
Now weighing up her career choices, Lauren says she is looking at options which have organisational psychology at the centre.
“I am excited about where the program is taking me. It’s a competitive world out there, so acquiring this depth of knowledge helps me to gain an edge. But more than anything Griffith is providing me with so many gifts. I never knew that I could achieve so much in just a few years.”