Our current residents voted for the most Instagram-worthy places around the College to help ensure your feed is nothing short of excellent, here are the most Instagrammable spots that you should check out.
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Robert Sambo is a Torres Strait Islander student from Karratha, Western Australia who graduated from Wesley College (2014).
In 2015, Robert decided to take a gap year where he travelled to the U.S.A to run a program for Camp America and continued to travel for the remainder of the year. Upon his return, Woodside offered Robert a traineeship which saw him develop an interest in computer technology and analysis. After spending two years with Woodside, a friend who participated in the Graduate Program at Woodside convinced him to study Computer Science at The University of Western Australia (UWA) – which he decided to pursue.
Robert is now a recipient of a Woodside Scholarship living at St Catherine’s College (a valued member of the Dandjoo Darbalung Program) whilst completing his Computer Science undergraduate at UWA.
Robert recognises the support and opportunities that Woodside has given him and hopes he can contribute to the company in the future.
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Pooja Ramesh is the recipient of the 2018 Beazley Medal for WACE students. It is an award that is given to the highest achieving student from the WACE (Western Australian Certificate of Education) and the VET (Vocational Education and Training) pathways in Western Australia. This Perth Modern School graduate never thought the award was a possibility for her but through hard work and sheer determination, she earned the highest ATAR score in the state and gained a direct pathway into her medical degree.
Pooja has many interests outside of academics. She has learned Indian Classical Singing and Dance since she was seven years of age. She plays the violin in the Western Australian Medical Students’ Orchestra and enjoys exploring and arranging music from South-East Asia in the Anandadhara WA orchestra. For sport, Pooja enjoys badminton, basketball and recreational swimming.
Pooja is the recipient of the 2019 St Catherine’s Beazley Medal Scholarship and is the first resident to live in the Dr Elizabeth Constable Room. “I have so much to thank St Catherine’s College for. It’s the medium through which I’ve been able to pursue all my interests. Being at St Catherine’s has helped me open up to new experiences, opportunities and challenges.”
Pooja is enjoying her double major in Medical Sciences and French Studies, even with its challenges. She plans to explore the field of pediatric medicine or global health policy.
Pooja’s words of wisdom are: “The main thing is to love what you’re doing. Choose subjects and pathways based on what you love doing and devote yourself to it. If you are passionate and self-motivated, you will find it easier to work towards achieving your goals.”
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I have a lot of favourite memories from my time at St Catherine’s! The first one that comes to mind was the ‘Secret Friends’ Week’ in first year, where I went down the creepy route by handmaking a personalised storybook about scary bears for my secret friend. Another great memory I have was the Neon Foam Party that took place in the Jull courtyard, but it only occured once because it ruined the lawn. We also won two out of three Inter-College cups in 2014, so we set off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate. A final favourite memory was helping organise and semi hosting the Four Seasons Ball in my first year. Even though it was stressful, the event was so much fun.
Coming to St Catherine’s was a very memorable experience for me. I completed my undergraduate over East and then decided to take a year off. Afterward, I applied to UWA in Perth to start my Ph.D. and was fortunate enough to be able to stay at St Catherine’s. St Catherine’s enabled me to be immersed in an academic and social culture which I missed out on during my undergrad. Personally, this was very meaningful. Some words of wisdom for the current residents: Always get involved and throw yourself in and give everything a go. However, remember not to overload yourself as your studies are just as important.
My project is specialising in atypical face perception. Specifically, we are looking at people with congenital prosopagnosia, a condition that affects about 2.5-3% of the population. It is a specific face identity recognition impairment that prevents people from deriving identity cues from the face. This can affect an individual’s functioning throughout their life, as they can have trouble recognising friends and family or even following movies. It is important to note that I am not looking for a cure or treatment. The actual research is quite young, and it has only been reliably diagnosed since 2006. I am looking at other abilities related to face identification that those with prosopagnosia may or may not be able to do. This will tell us whether the impairment is specific to all face aspects or identity.
Research is very different from your undergraduate studies. In undergrad, you have prescribed coursework and your professors and tutors have the answers. There is this idea that your Ph.D. supervisors will also have the answers, but this is not the case.
Your supervisors are there to mentor and work collaboratively with you. They don’t know the answers, and that is why you are working on your Ph.D. project. I changed my area of focus from social psychology in honours to neuropsychology for my Ph.D., as I was interested in perception. Most people tend to go into a Ph.D. based on their honours work, so shifting gears made it more difficult to get started.
My advice to current students who are wanting to go into research is to make sure you are statistics trained. I find a lot of undergraduates have inadequate statistics skills and to really engage in a lot of research, you will need to be proficient beyond the basics. This will open a new world of understanding for you. Secondly, I recommend that you should take the opportunity to learn specialised skills because you have a lot of opportunities that won’t be available to you after you finish your Ph.D.. These will help you get a job in the future. Remember a Ph.D. is a marathon, not a sprint. You are going to feel like an imposter and you may think you don’t know what is going on. It is a slow pace and you will see results over the years. Don’t lose sight, you will get there.
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By Sian O’Sullivan
Elizabeth Knight is the recipient of the Boston Consulting Group Scholarship for 2019. This scholarship is open to students in their penultimate year of study across Australia and New Zealand and awarded to two students who display academic excellence, communication, critical thinking and leadership skills.
Elizabeth is completing a Bachelor of Philosophy with a double-major in Management and Political Science & International Relations. She is also an active member of Bloom at St Catherine’s and currently is the Director for the organisation. “Bloom’s vision is to be the catalyst for young founders to realise their purpose and create impact through entrepreneurial pursuits.”
Receiving the BCG Scholarship has empowered Elizabeth to continue to chase her goals. For her, the scholarship not only represents an investment in future potential, but is also recognition of the value of young people. “It is about true empowerment, which is achieved by instilling confidence and trust in a young person’s abilities, passion and purpose. I’ve never felt more empowered to be my authentic self and to chase after the vision I have for my future.”
Elizabeth attended Perth Modern School and in her spare time works on her own startup and gets involved in a wide variety of College activities.
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Interview by Amy Papasergio
My name is Laure Law-Lin and I’m currently in my third year at UWA, studying Law and Society. I enjoy learning about international issues, particularly those related to criminal and environmental law. I’m graduating at the end of the year.
I am from Reunion Island, which is part of France, and I’m hoping to return there for my postgraduate studies. I love everything about my home, seeing as it’s a very multicultural place. I am also the first person from Reunion Island to stay at St Cat’s.
I live on the top floor of Casa. There is a lot of space and it has a nice breakout area, which creates a nice place to chill out with my friends. There is even a cool Google slide, which I am planning to try out later this year, right before I leave.
I was surprised by a lot of things about the College. I used to stay at Uni Hall before I came here, and when I relocated I found that St Cat’s was much more focused on community spirit, which I love.
At College I work alongside Bec Cotton, as a Community Representative, helping with community projects throughout the year. Right now, I run the honey bee project where we are creating a bee-friendly botanical garden on the College rooftop, in order to produce a thriving bee colony.
My favourite part about St Cat’s is that I get the chance to create a real long-lasting project. I’m so happy to have got this opportunity. The garden will impact St Cats in a great way and I can’t wait until the end of the year when I will be able to look at the rooftop garden and witness the incredible results that dedication towards a worthy cause can yield.
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By Amy Papasergio
St Catherine’s College hosts four faculty dinners each year; two Science and two Arts. All residents are invited and welcome to attend.
Faculty dinners offer an opportunity hear about the interesting lives of academics and professionals from the industries that interest our residents. Residents are encouraged to invite their lecturer, tutor, boss or someone they know to the three-course meal and a conversation alongside them.
The Arts, Business, Law and Design faculty dinner held earlier this semester had many engaging guests such as Professor David Hill, the Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian studies at Murdoch, Kate Hulett, the founder of local Fremantle business Kate and Able, and St Catherine’s alumnus Jordin Payne, who is a senior consultant at Cannings Purple (a strategic communications firm).
The recent Science faculty dinner invited guests from UWA which included Sarah Dunlop, Annette George and Charlene Kahler, the Heads of School of Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences and Infection and Immunity respectively. Industry guests included Anas Ghadouani, an environmental engineer, Adrian Keating, a mechanical engineer and Carmela Pestell, who is a clinical psychologist and the Director of the Robin Winkler Institute.
After the formal dinner and inspirational presentations from the special guests, coffee and tea are served, allowing residents to sit and enjoy a conversation with any guest that inspired them. This is a great way for our residents to practice networking skills and create amazing connections that will further their career, wherever they may choose to go.
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By Amy Papasergio
Study Week doesn’t have to be stressful – thanks to the hard work of our Residential Advisors (RA’s)! They provided stress busters, study packs, suppers and a relaxing place to study.
Study Packs
Every resident received an study pack, created by the RA’s, to help them through study week. The packs included a customisable weekly study schedule, stationery and some tasty treats delivered to their rooms.
Stress Busters
During the study week, the RA’s conducted various stress buster activities to help residents let loose after a busy day of studying:
Monday: A Zumba session
Tuesday: Investigative games of Mafia.
Wednesday: Mario Cart
Thursday: Bouncy castle.
Friday: Petting zoo
Saturday: Pamper night
Suppers
Every night through study week and into the exam weeks, a supper was provided for those who are up late studying. There was a different snack each night, including hedgehog slice, brownies, chocolates, croissants and so on – all prepared by our kitchen staff!
Study Hall
Study Hall was held every night from 8:30 pm to 10 pm during study week. It provided a calm and quiet work place which was perfect to prepare for exams. The nights were made special by our Director of Studies, Holly Nilan, with her words of support, personalised merit certificates, stickers and treats ready to reward residents for their hard work.
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As part of a $300M development at Curtin University, St Catherine’s College has been chosen to open an innovative residential accommodation facility that builds on the traditions of the Oxford and Cambridge style Colleges.
St Catherine’s College at Curtin will offer its suite of world leading programs and services to 400 Curtin students from all over the world. A new type of accommodation offering, at Curtin University, this state-of-the-art facility will offer residents an all-inclusive package of accommodation and meals. However, what distinguishes it from other accommodation offerings is the intensive academic program and contemporary wellness programs which ensure students make friends, have a balanced approach to life and are successful, not only at university but into employment.
The Head of College, Fiona Crowe, is thrilled St Catherine’s has been selected by Curtin. She says, “Expanding to Curtin allows us to access the best of two leading universities which will allow our residents to embrace opportunities that will create knowledge sharing, cross campus collaboration and networking on an even more global scale.”
Hannah Rankin-Hume, studying a Bachelor of Science (Speech Pathology) at Curtin, currently resides at St Catherine’s in Crawley. “Travel has been a huge challenge for me over the past two years, but I really wanted to experience living in a College and I am so pleased I have persisted. St Cat’s has significantly enhanced my university experience, allowing me to access opportunities I would never have imagined.”
The project will add 1000 beds of which 400 will be at St Catherine’s.
St Catherine’s currently operates in Crawley as one of five residential Colleges associated with the University of Western Australia. With over 70 years of experience in running a successful College, St Catherine’s will now operate on two campuses at two different universities.
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Interview by Amy Papasergio
My Name is Bec Cotton and I’m currently in my second year studying Natural Resource Management and Environmental Science. I love learning about the relationship between humans and the environment, as well as about terrestrial ecology.
I’m originally from Albany. I am now living on the top floor of the Banksia building where I have so many lovely neighbours. There is always something to do in Banksia and I love taking part in all the fun events and gatherings that happen there.
It surprised me how easy it is to socialise at college compared to university, as everyone gets along. I also love meeting all the new exchange students. I’m really looking forward to my study abroad in Argentina for a month, which will be taking place during the winter. I will get to learn about territorial studies and regional development.
I’m also the Community Engagement RA here at St Cat’s, for which I organise community events throughout the year and help people find volunteering projects to get involved in. I’m currently assisting Laure Law-Lin in the St Cat’s Bee Project. We’re planting native flora on the rooftop to encourage bees and other insect pollinators to visit. I also organise hikes around Perth for the Hiking Club and love to play soccer!
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