Alumni Shortlisted for Rhodes Scholarship

Congratulations to Sam Begg (Class of 2009), who recently placed in the top three in the state with his application for a Rhodes Scholarship.

Although he did narrowly miss out, he gets a second chance with a further interview and dinner in Canberra with other worthy candidates from around the country who also narrowly missed out on the first round of offers.

He is forever thankful to the staff of Mount Lawley for their hard work and determination in ensuring his success.

The application process involved a personal statement addressing why you should be chosen as a Rhodes Scholar, and a research proposal outlining more specifically what you intend to do at Oxford.

We were also required to submit our resume and six references, three academic and three non-academic.

This process was incredibly rigorous, and made me examine my motivations and what I would like to achieve in life.

During my time at Mt Lawley I became good friends with Mr Winter, and was fortunate enough to have him as a referee for application.

I was lucky enough to be selected for the final round, which involved dinner with the selection panel and an interview the following morning.

I managed to come in the top 3, although I did not win, and was recommended by the panel to compete for the Australia-at-Large Rhodes Scholarship next month, competing against many of the runners-up from different states.

I graduated MLSHS in 2009 and have been at UWA ever since.

This year I completed a Bachelor of Engineering (with honours) and a Bachelor of Science, majoring in mechanical engineering, physics and applied mathematics.

I am currently half way through my honours year in mathematics and plan to work in applied mathematics, probably as an academic.

Much of my research to date has been on renewable energy technologies such as wave and solar power.

I see climate change as one of the greatest challenges facing the modern world and renewables are a key part of the solution.

I was recently elected as the vice-chair of not-for-profit organisation Sustainable Energy Now WA, a group advocating for renewable energy technology in the wider community.

We have a technical team that looks at renewables in the state, as well as policy and outreach teams.

Sam Begg

We congratulate Sam on his efforts, and wish him all the best as he approaches the next round of interviews.

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