Ramsgate nursing student Shannon Kennedy is able to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandfather, Gallipoli veteran and ambulance officer Douglas Smith, after being awarded a unique scholarship.
Shannon, 20, is a past recipient of the Gallipoli Scholarship, a fund which was established by the World War I Veterans Association to help deserving students.
Next month the fund will award its 100th scholarship for TAFE and university students.
Scholarship applicants have to provide their academic background and write an essay on the meaning of the Anzac spirit and why it is so important to Australia.
Shannon applied for the scholarship to assist in her first-year nursing studies.
And when it came to writing her essay on the importance of the Anzac spirit, she had plenty of inspiration - her great-great grandfathers who were both Gallipoli veterans, Colonel William Kennedy, MBE MC, and Douglas Francis Smith.
William Kennedy was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
Douglas Smith, who enlisted in WWI at age 16, served in Gallipoli, Alexandria and in France. Gassed on the battlefield, he later became a stretcher bearer. Returning home, he became a paramedic, helping to start the ambulance service in Sydney Eastern Suburbs.
It is his example that Shannon wants to follow.
Shannon is in her final year of nursing studies at the Australian Catholic University in North Sydney.
“Once I’ve finished nursing, I’d like to progress onto studying paramedicine and follow in the steps of my great grandfather,” she said.
“I’m looking to go into emergency nursing.”
Writing her essay as part of her scholarship submission, Shannon described the Anzac spirit with her great grandfathers in mind.
“It is the fact they were ordinary people. They were husbands and farmers who had ordinary jobs and then this conflict happened and all of a suddenly they were thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
“But they had the underlying values of mateship and larrikinism, the undying things that make us Australian. It was the first time we were really Australian in a theatre of war, rather than a British force.”
Shannon said that winning the Gallipoli Scholarship made an enormous difference to her start at university.
“The scholarship covered the high cost of medical text books and the travel and uniform expenses associated with nursing placements,” she said.
“I was able to really focus on my studies rather than worrying about those expenses.”
Applications for the next round of scholarships, each $5,000 tax free, close on 1 March.
Students are encouraged to visit www.gallipolischolarship.com.au to learn how to apply for the scholarship and the eligibility criteria.
