FOCUSED on a career in health, Jemma Miyashita is not doing things by halves.
Ms Miyashita, 18, will next month start her Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Newcastle, which she will juggle with an online Diploma of Emergency Health through the Australian Paramedical College and studying for the University Clinical Aptitude Test for a spot in medicine.
"I'm kind of branching out to see what path actually suits me," she said.
"Empathy has always been, I think, one of my strongest qualities and helping other people is something that has always appealed to me.
"I've always been really interested in science as well... I have allergies [to sesame and walnuts] and have been hospitalised a few times [and that's made] me really grateful for the health system that we have and how good it is.
"Seeing how the nurses and the paramedics and the doctors work, they've made such a big impact on me and it's really inspiring and impressive what they do."
Ms Miyashita was a boarder at Ravenswood School for Girls in Gordon and received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 99.1.
She said she'd been interested in UON for several reasons - friends had spoken highly of the city and university's culture; she was looking for a more relaxed lifestyle close to the ocean; plus wanted to move away but not too far from loved ones - before she heard about the Ma & Morley Scholarship Program.
She has received one of the six academic excellence scholarships, which includes up to $50,000 for an entire degree, access to a values based leadership program and a China immersion experience subject to travel restrictions.
"It really appealed to me the fact that it was values based, not many scholarships are," she said.
"I really valued a scholarship that was going to select me because of who I was as a person, not necessarily my marks and my greatest achievements... it was nice to be asked how I thought I could implement the Ma and Morley values in my life.
"There are a lot of groups and community meetings where all the scholars can get together and I think that's something really valuable because we're all from such different paths."
Ms Miyashita said she thrived on involvement in a wide range of activities.
In her final year she was her school's cadet prefect. Ravenswood has a combined cadet unit with Knox Grammar School - the largest in the southern hemisphere - which she said was "a student run - under staff supervision - leadership development program".
She was the unit's cadet under officer and her posting was unit second in command.
She went to the gym daily and was involved in cross country running, touch football, AFL, soccer and until a wrist fracture, rugby. She helped make and sell jewellery to help asylum seekers.
At her school's presentation ceremony last year she was recognised for being the top performer in Visual Arts, achieving in the top 10 per cent of her cohort and with the ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership and Teamwork Award.
"It didn't feel like I was busy, it just meant I was doing a bunch of things that I liked."
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