Alissa pursues passion for law
A PASSION for the law which began with helping her aunt study for the bar exam has taken a young Toowoomba woman all the way to a prestigious Gold Coast university.
Former Fairholme College student Alissa Woods has been awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Elite Scholarship to attend Bond University, Australia’s first private, not-for-profit university.
Miss Woods, 18, began studying at Bond this year after receiving the scholarship, which covers the entire tuition cost of her Bachelor of International Relations and Bachelor of Laws.
Miss Woods visited Bond last year for a mooting contest, and said the institution left an impression on her.
“I really liked the way everything worked at Bond; there just seemed to be a lot of opportunities there, and also the teacher to student ratio was something I thought would suit me really well.”
Miss Woods said as well as studying languages in school and having an enduring interest in different cultures and politics, she’d had a fascination with law from an early age.
“My aunty is a barrister, and while she was studying for the bar exam, I always thought I was helping her by highlighting things from the rules and testing her knowledge; I always really enjoyed that. I soon started accompanying her to court, and my passion for the law grew from there.”
Miss Woods made sure of her career plans by working at a law firm in Toowoomba last year, and in October her path was set when she received a phone call from Bond University Vice Chancellor, Professor Tim Brailsford, to let her know she would be receiving one of his scholarships.
Being awarded the scholarship was the culmination of a rigorous application process which included essays, a video and a selection weekend involving panel interviews, activities, and a written personality exam.
But for Miss Woods, the hard work starts now – and she’s under no illusions that university life will present a new challenge.
“Because I like to get high marks, and that’s a little harder to do at university than school, I think I will need to practice maintaining a good work-life balance, which will be challenging for me.”
Her ties with Toowoomba remain strong.
There are two other students she knows from Fairholme attending Bond, so she intends to catch up with them, and she’s already planning trips back to Toowoomba to see family – and get in some horse riding.