FORMER Scots School student Thomas Curran capped a period of academic achievement when he received a prestigious prize recently.
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Mr Curran, who did the HSC at Scots in 2010, received the Chancellor Robert Hope Memorial Prize from the University of Wollongong (UOW) at his graduation ceremony.
The prize, which honours the university’s founding chancellor, is awarded to a student who demonstrates exceptional academic performance, outstanding leadership and a significant contribution to the university and the wider community.
Mr Curran studied a Bachelor of Arts (Dean’s Scholar) and Bachelor of International Studies (Dean’s Scholar) at the university.
UOW said Mr Curran’s academic achievements, combined “with the leadership, initiative and engagement he has shown in his community pursuits”, made him a worthy recipient.
The former Bathurst student’s pursuits included his involvement in the UOW Language Ambassadors program, in which he placed UOW language students into high schools to help secondary students studying those same languages.
He also partnered with a UOW academic to expand the program from a single language at one school to offering help in five languages at six schools across the Illawarra.
Mr Curran represented the university internationally on a number of occasions including at the Council of Europe, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and at the Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference.
He also did an internship with the Uni-Capital Internship Program in Washington, DC. During that time, he met the US Consul-General and members of Congress and worked with the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on a number of legislative projects, preparing recommendations for the US Secretary of the Department of Transportation and his staff.
One of the highlights of his internship was being present for an address by former president Barack Obama.
“I managed to get a place right up the front, at the table next to Morgan Freeman, and when the president and first lady walked in, I was a bit star struck,” he said.
“President Obama gave a brilliant speech.”
Mr Curran moved to Canberra earlier this year to take up a job as a graduate with the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development.
He is studying for a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration at the University of Canberra as part of the requirement of the infrastructure graduate program.