Emma Louise Jackson has been awarded the Youth Fund Scholarship of $4,000 pa (continuous) in 2019.
Emma, a young lady from Turramurra on the Upper North Shore of Sydney is reading medicine at the Fremantle campus of the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Born in Sydney in 1994 she completed her secondary education at Loreto Normanhurst in 2012, graduating as dux of the school. She then went on to complete a combined Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce at Macquarie University.
During her undergraduate degree Emma completed two semester-long exchanges, firstly at the University of British Columbia, Canada in 2014 and then at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2016. She was the recipient of a prestigious Australian Government New Colombo Plan scholarship, financially supporting her studies in Singapore as well as a commerce internship in Indonesia in 2017. Later that year, Emma competed in the international iGEM synthetic biology competition as a member of the Macquarie University team. The iGEM Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, education and competition, and the development of an open community and collaboration.
Their project centred on the creation of hydrogen energy using E. Coli bacteria instead of fossil fuels. Emma presented the project alongside her teammates at the international jamboree in Boston and won the award for Best Energy Solution.
In 2018 Emma hiked the 800km Camino de Santiago, raising over $4,000 for youth mental health charity Headspace in the process. Camino de Santiago, known in English, as the Way of Saint James, among other names is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain.
She was an active member of the Turramurra community and regularly dedicated her time to worthwhile causes. She volunteered for 4 years on weekly basis at Saint Lucy’s Catholic School, Wahroonga. This is a school in the Dominican tradition for students with disabilities. As a classroom assistant she helped the teacher coordinate learning activities for the children and offered support for children unable to complete the activities unassisted.
Through this role she demonstrated a strong level of commitment, passion and creativity. She was a regular vocalist at her local church singing in the evening service as a member of the church band. She is passionate in helping Australians struggling with mental issues.
Earlier this year Emma moved to Perth from Sydney to commence her studies in medicine. She is sincerely grateful to the Catenian Association for awarding her the Youth Fund scholarship as it will greatly reduce the stress and financial burden of living so far away from home and enable her to focus her attention solely on her studies.
Emma is the eldest of 4 children as she has 3 younger brothers.
Ken Wong (Manager of Graduations at Macquarie University) writes of Emma as follows :-
“Emma is an exceptionally gifted student who has extensively contributed to the Macquarie University community. Throughout her 5 years at Macquarie she received several academic prizes. Emma is a natural leader who energises and motivates others in any role she takes on.
Emma is a warm and sociable person. She is keen to learn from everyone she meets and shows a genuine interest in understanding the lives of others.”
On 1 May 2019 Emma was presented with a Scholarship Certificate by Brian Kerman on behalf of the Board at a morning tea hosted by Fiona Whittles Director, Office of University Relations at Notre Dame and attended by Professor Naomi Trengove the Dean of the School of Health Sciences.
The Board appreciates the assistance of all members of that Office and furthermore the donations by Circle brothers that makes our Catenian contribution to the lives of our young leaders possible.
Pictured below are Brian, Naomi and Emma
