St George College student, and 2012 and 2010 Dux of the College, Alexandra Papanikolaou, has been awarded the University of Adelaide Principals’ Scholarship in 2013 as she embarks on her double degree in law and health science at university this year.
The 17-year-old student had no idea she had been nominated by her principal Dr George Panagopoulos; and a fortnight after finding out she was nominated she was told she was the recipient of the award.
She says the $5000 scholarship will help her with the financial side of university such as fees and books.
Papanikolaou has been a student of St George College all her life and says attending a Greek Orthodox College has given her an added feel of community, and sense of belonging which made it helpful for her to achieve her scholastic goals. But also thanks her family, especially her yiayia.
“Yiayia also helped a lot, we would go to her house after school and she would cook for us, and sustain us, and support us a lot, and my mum would sacrifice a lot of her time just so she could stay home and keep me company while I was studying,” she said adding all her family and friends supported the student along the way.
A believer in hard work, Papanikolaou’s advice to younger students is to “try as hard as you possibly can, and stay dedicated” and always study and concentrate in class.
“The reward in the end is one of the best feelings you could describe in your short teenage life,” she says.