Danish students enjoy their crowning success
2013 Crown Princess Mary Scholarship winners
The 2013 Crown Princess Mary Scholarship has been awarded to three students studying in the UTAS Faculty of Health Sciences in Launceston –Simon Knudsen, Helle Mouritzen and Katrine Nannestad, all 23.
The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving students from Denmark and provides the recipients each with $2,000 towards the cost of their studies in Tasmania. The recipients have been chosen not only for their academic merit, but also their extra-curricular activities and motivation for studying in Tasmania.
Simon is in the final year of Nursing at Metropolitan University College in Copenhagen, and is studying acute care nursing at UTAS. Helle is in the final year of Nursing at VIA University College in Aarhus and is also studying acute care nursing. Katrine is in her third year of Biomedicine at the University of Southern Denmark and is enrolled in a variety of subjects in the UTAS School of Human Life Sciences.
Simon describes himself as a “people person” who likes to be challenged and learn about new cultures. He has had experience working in a primary health service, a psychiatric ward, a heart ward and has also worked in the UK caring for children with disabilities.
“I hope that study at UTAS will help me grown and learn, both as a person and as a student,” he said.
When Helle heard about the student exchange program at UTAS, she “was sure Tasmania was the right place for me to develop myself both professionally and personally,” she said.
“The work as a nurse appeals to me because of its complexity and the fact that you never know what the day will bring. I wish to develop my identity as a future nurse through new challenges and to broaden my horizon, which the study abroad program in Tasmania surely will fulfill.”
Katrine chose UTAS as she thought it was the “best fit” for her in terms of academic study. She has been in Australia for many weeks but only recently arrived in Tasmania.
“I have a positive outlook on life and I love the sciences,” she said.
Crown Princess Mary’s sister Jane Stevens presented the winners with their cheques and certificates.
The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship is a particularly special scholarship for UTAS as the nature of this scholarship allows Danish students to experience Tasmania and to enrich their academic experience by studying away from their homeland. In this way the partnership between UTAS and the Danish Universities encourages an exchange not only of students, but of culture, which strengthens the ties of friendship between Tasmania and Denmark.
The scholarship is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students in all areas of studies offered at UTAS.