More than 200 Year 11 students have converged on The University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus to experience university life through the UQ Young Scholars Program’s (YSP) five-day residential camp.
The high-achieving students represent 114 schools from across Queensland, New South Wales and for the first time, Singapore, and have been participating in a range of seminars, workshops, and group activities.
Now in its third year, YSP is designed to provide students with a unique opportunity for academic enrichment and expose them to a wide range of potential study areas.
Students are selected based on academic excellence, leadership achievements and contribution to their school or community, and are invited to attend two residential camps over Years 11 and 12 at UQ’s St Lucia campus.
As well as academic components, YSP also includes group discussions, collaborative forums and social, sporting and cultural activities.
Young Scholar and St John’s School Year 11 student Shanahan Flanders has travelled from Roma to participate in the residential camp and said he was looking forward to learning about university life.
“I think being involved in YSP will greatly assist in my transition to university because I can gain hands-on experience in the courses offered and also be introduced to the new lifestyle,” he said.
“For me, the opportunity to get involved in the diverse amount of activities, which I rarely get to experience because I live far from a major city, is one of the most significant draw cards of the camp.
“Through this experience, I hope to get more of an understanding of the areas I’d like to study – video game design, journalism or physics – which can help me make my final decision on what degree to apply for in Year 12.”
UQ Young Scholars are challenged to think critically about some of today's major global issues and throughout their participation, are exposed to a wide range of potential study areas and career opportunities.
Guided and supported by a team of UQ student mentors – some of whom are past Young Scholars – the selected high school students will gain an insight into how they can make most of the UQ experience and tips for starting university.
UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Debbie Terry said the key aims of the program were to enable students to learn about future study options, discover career opportunities and engage with like-minded students.
“The program brings together a wonderful mix of students from schools in regional and city areas and with interests in a range of disciplines,” she said.
“It’s an opportunity for them to engage with UQ in an informative, interactive and fun way.
“Being a part of the UQ Young Scholars Program is an experience we hope all students will carry with them for life.”
For more information and to apply please visit http://www.uq.edu.au/youngscholars/ or email youngscholars@uq.edu.au or phone 07 3346 9746.
Media: Caroline Bird (UQ Communications; 07 3365 1931 or c.bird1@uq.edu.au).
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