Watch out for the names Katrina Murrell, Emily Wilson and Joanne Babb - they could well be associated with the next Commonwealth or even Olympic Games.
These three Victoria University students have all won Compass Group Scholarships that will help them forge their careers as a sports dietician, an event manager and a nutrition scientist.
Compass Group, the world’s leading foodservice and hospitality company, has established the scholarships program which will see $50,000 in scholarships awarded over the next five years to Victoria University higher education and TAFE students.
Karon Hepner, Compass Group Australia’s National Learning and Development Manager, said: "We operate in over 90 countries through four companies: Eurest, Scolarest, Medirest and ESS, and employ over 400,000 people worldwide. Outstanding service with a commitment to quality is what our clients and customers expect and students are the key to our future success. Compass Group is proud to be able to reward and encourage high achieving students to build their careers in the hospitality industry."
Compass Group Scholarships will be awarded to high achieving students studying: Events Management; Hospitality; Nutrition, Food Science and Health; and Nutritional Therapy.
Katrina Murrell has won the Compass Group Scholarship for Nutrition, Food Science and Health. Katrina said: "My goal is to be a sports dietician. I really hope to be able to test, analyse and advise sports people on their diet, nutrients and benefits of certain foods to improve their health and performance."
From Warrnambool, Katrina knows more than most people what it means to be an elite sportsperson. From the age of seven she spent over ten years competing in state, national and international swimming competitions and made the Victorian State Team, winning State medals for breaststroke and butterfly.
Emily Wilson from Brunswick, is the winner of the Compass Group Scholarship for Overseas Study. With her scholarship, she will travel to Barcelona and Athens to compare the European Event Management Industry with that of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Emily said: "The long term impacts of mega events on the infrastructure of cities and culture is also one of my research interests, and how these events can promote appreciation of cultural diversity."
Joanne Babb, from Altona, has also won a Compass Group Scholarship for Nutrition, Food Science and Health, and is pursuing a career as a research scientist in nutrition and science.
Joanne said: "Recently I researched the impact of cooking processes on uptake of Omega 3 from scallops as Omega 3 lowers the risk of heart disease. Surprisingly, there had not been much research done in this area." She plans to do her PhD in nutrition and science and hopes her research will make a difference to people’s health.
Victoria University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Management Services, Professor Michael Hamerston, said: "Training and education are the key to the future, and we are committed to increasing the number of scholarships available to our students, to help them achieve their career goals."