Ebony Seymour and Zac Arkley-Smith have been announced as the joint winners of the 2020 Hoskins Lithgow Scholarship.
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"Once again, the Scholarship Committee was presented with some outstanding applicants and found it difficult to choose a single winner," scholarship secretary Helen Lee said.
Ebony completed her HSC at Lithgow High School in 2019 and was a school captain. She is an accomplished all-rounder having achieved very well academically as well as representing the school in swimming at state level and in netball.
A talented pianist and vocalist, she has also performed at school assemblies and other venues.
She was a member of the NAIDOC debating team as well as taking part in the Festival of Speech.
In addition to all of this, Ebony has found time to work part-time as a piano teacher and as a waitress in a local restaurant.
In 2018, Ebony was among 100 young women chosen to attend the UBS Young Women's Leadership Academy in Sydney. She was also one of four young people in Lithgow chosen to attend the NSW Community Cabinet Visit to Lithgow where she put homelessness in Lithgow on the agenda.
Ebony has chosen to study Communications (Journalism) and Law at the University of Technology, Sydney. When she has completed her degrees, she has expressed her desire to work as a human rights lawyer.
Zac completed his HSC in 2018 also at Lithgow High School where he was a school captain and a lead player in the annual school musical. He has also performed as a pianist and vocalist at other local venues and was a member of the school debating team for a number of years.
Zac has received numerous performing arts awards as well as several awards for school citizenship.
Zac also played various sports with the school and district, including hockey, swimming and volleyball and managed to fit in part-time work while at school.
He applied successfully for the Leadership Group's attendance at the ABC's "Q & A" School Special and was also chosen as a delegate to the Schools State Constitutional Convention in 2017 and then as a State Delegate to the Schools National Constitutional Convention in 2018.
In 2019, Zac began his tertiary studies at the University of Wollongong in Science Education. He has excelled in the course so far and has travelled with fellow classmates as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) facilitator to encourage regional school students to continue their STEM studies at school and onto University.
Zac sees his future as a STEM educator in secondary schools where he can share his passion for STEM subjects and can make a positive impact on the community around him.
"The Trustees offer their warmest congratulations to Ebony and Zac and would also like to thank all the other applicants who submitted very competitive applications for the 2020 scholarship," Ms Lee said.
Each year, the Hoskins Lithgow Scholarship offers an amount of up to $30,000 to a Lithgow Local Government Area resident who is an Australian citizen under the age of 26 to assist with a tertiary course of study.
The Trustees are looking forward to receiving applications for the 2021 scholarship in July/August this year.
Applications for the 2021 scholarship open on Monday, July 13. Further details regarding the scholarship and the application process are available on the Hoskins Lithgow Scholarship website.
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