Arts/Law alumnus, Kate Mitchell is packing her bags for the UK after being awarded not one, but two scholarships to study at Oxford University.
Kate was one of only 100 students worldwide to receive a 2011 Clarendon Fund Scholarship which will cover her full tuition and college fees at Oxford and includes a generous grant for living expenses.
The Clarendon Fund is a major graduate scholarship scheme at Oxford, awarded on the basis of academic excellence and potential across all subject areas. The selection process is highly competitive, with less than 10% of applicants being chosen.
Kate’s second scholarship – the Honorary James Fairfax – Oxford Australia Scholarship – is awarded to Australian graduates to study a postgraduate or Second BA degree at Oxford and provides a small additional stipend.
Kate will use her scholarships to study Oxford’s Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL), commencing at Magdalen College in late September.
The BCL is widely regarded as one of the most intellectually rigorous Masters-level qualifications in the world and is the only graduate Law Masters taught primarily through tutorials.
“My lecturers at Bond really encouraged me to seek out opportunities that would challenge me – such as these postgraduate scholarships" said Kate.
“The support I received from the Law and Humanities Faculties – and particularly from those who kindly offered to act as referees – was invaluable and something for which I am incredibly grateful.”
Since graduating from Bond in 2009 with her Bachelor of Arts and First Class Honours in Law, Kate has been on the career fast-track, securing a 12-month Associateship with Federal Court Justice Michelle Gordon and working as a lawyer with Allens Arthur Robinson in Melbourne.
“I feel incredibly lucky to have studied my undergraduate degrees at Bond,” she said. “And I'm very nostalgic about my time there!
“Having studied at a relatively new university for my undergraduate degree, I am looking forward to combining that progressive, forward-thinking spirit I was taught at Bond with an institution like Oxford which is so steeped in history and tradition.
“I think it will result in a well-rounded education.”
Kate plans to leave Australia at the beginning of September to travel through Asia before settling into her new life at Oxford’s Magdalen College for her year-long studies.