My advice to anyone thinking of applying for the NCP scholarship is: the worst thing that can come out of applying is not getting selected, but the best thing that can happen is a life-changing experience overseas.
When I initially applied for the NCP Scholarship, I was in my third year of university and had never travelled overseas before. I didn’t expect to get too far into the application process as the scholarship is described as “the most lucrative and prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the country”, and my transcript isn’t straight HD’s. I thought the worst thing that could happen would be me not getting it and doing a normal semester abroad.
At first I wasn’t entirely sure where I wanted to go, but I knew I wanted to go somewhere relevant to my engineering degree and interest in sustainability. I was asked to draft a submission for the scholarship based on the previous year’s requirements, and I was surprised at how much support the Global Team provided me as an applicant, providing suggestions on what could be edited to improve my application as well as providing resources to opportunities that aligned with my interests that I could include in my “dream experience”.
I found this part of the process was quite profound. Doing this application requires you to really consider and articulate your passions and your goals for the future, which takes a bit of soul searching to do. Even if I wasn’t successful with the application, having spent so much time thinking about my dreams for the future has enabled me to better articulate myself and my goals for other opportunities (such as job applications).
After I was accepted, the proposed plan I wrote about in my application was used as a guideline to determine where I’d be staying and what I’d be studying. This point was also when I matched to a Case Manager to help me plan my travels in alignment with the scholarship contract.
Once the borders started to open and NCP gave us the go-ahead to begin departing for our experiences, we were given the opportunity to head to Canberra for our pre-departure training. This was a jam-packed three days full of seminars from previous scholars and diplomats, information sessions for heading overseas and a multitude of informal and formal networking.
At this stage many scholars were given the opportunity to meet with the Consular Offices/Embassies for their host countries. This helped immensely with gaining clarification on the visa process since neither the host university nor NCP is allowed to provide guidance for this part. In my case as a Taiwan scholar, the Taiwanese borders were some of the last to open within the Indo-Pacific, so the Office was able to liaise with their Ministry of Education to provide an exemption for entry.
Next, the stage of actually applying for what you proposed begins. This is when you go for your visa with all your supporting documentation, apply for your accommodation and being to book your flights.
And finally, once you step foot into your new home for the next year or so, your Plan B’s to Z’s start to come into action. When I arrived in Taiwan, I had to shuffle my program due a variety of roadbumps (including but not limited to visa conflicts and my language provider deciding to cancel afternoon classes due to a lack of demand).
There’s a running joke between NCP alumni that no matter how hard you organise, nothing will ever go exactly to plan (I like to think this is why 25% of the application assesses resilience).
I think the 5 most important things I’ve gotten out of this experience are the following:
1. Lifelong friendships with other fellow scholars, and various people from the Indo-Pacific and beyond
2. An extensive network of fellow NCP alumni who are also passionate about what they do
3. A newfound sense of resilience and independence that could only be found living overseas for nearly a year
4. Clarity on my passions and what I want to achieve after I graduate from university
5. A unique perspective on my industry that I wouldn’t have seen in Australia
I even got to enjoy New Years Eve on a rooftop next to Taipei 101 which was an amazing way to wrap up my study component alongside all my new friends.
One main advantage of the NCP scholarship program is that since the scholarship is administered through DFAT, there is a whole lot more exposure to the diplomatic side of being in a foreign country. You still have the opportunity to travel around the country with your newfound friends, but you might not be able to join them for lunch next week because you were invited to a luncheon with the President (true story).
I think the prestige of the scholarship tends to give people imposter syndrome (at least it did for me), but academic ability is only part of the equation. What the NCP Scholarship is fundamentally looking for is people with passion. Regardless of if you’re passionate about sustainability, fashion, human rights, or music, if you’re able to articulate this passion to whoever is listening that is what will enable you to stand out.
-Mikyla Peters, Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honours) / Bachelor of Computer Systems Engineering (Honours)
Global Traveller 