A prestigious Griffith University and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Scholarship has changed the life of double degree student, Narasimhan Ravi.
The 20-year-old is thriving since his move from India to the Gold Coast to take up the exciting opportunity.
“Living here on the Gold Coast for the next four and a half years is going to be something amazing,” he says. “Home is not a place, it is a feeling. I completely feel at home here.
“People in India need to come to Australia to see just how nice the people are here.”
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Narasimhan — or Naz — is studying exercise science and business at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus where his scholarship has driven him to succeed.
“The scholarship has certainly taken the burden off my dad in terms of living expenses,” he says. “It has also helped me to push myself to the limit in my studies and maintaining my GPA.
“My experience at Griffith has been fantastic, especially the support and resources that are available.”
Two remaining Griffith University and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Scholarships are on offer to first-year students starting in 2018. Applications from international students are invited as well as from domestic students.
The scholarships celebrate academic excellence, sport participation and achievement, leadership and community engagement. Each scholarship includes a full fee waiver, accommodation and a contribution towards education expenses. Applications are open until October 29.
“It’s been an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity tobe a part of the Commonwealth Games,” Naz says.
For him the Commonwealth Games seed was sown in 2006 when —aged eight — he watched his countryman Sharath Achanta become the first Indian to win table tennis gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
An inspired Naz went on to compete both at national and international levels in table tennis and badminton, and has also excelled in cross country running. He now finds himself set up in southeast Queensland on the eve of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.