Eight talented Monash students will be winging their way to the city that never sleeps on 25 April as the successful applicants of the University’s first Global Discovery Program.

The Global Discovery Program is an initiative of the US arm of the Monash Global Leaders Network – groups of active alumni and friends in Hong Kong, Indonesia, mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, UK and US.

The first chapter of the network in America is led by graduate Sue Fennessy (BA(SocSc) 1994).

Motivated by her own Monash-sponsored visit to New York when she was a first-year student, Ms Fennessy and her fellow alumni Patrick Loftus-Hills, Anne Valentine Andrews and Karl Redenbach developed the internship opportunity which they believe will empower students with the knowledge, skills and connections that enable them to excel on a world stage.

Benjamin Campbell (Law); George Kennedy (Arts); Kate Maxfield (Medicine/Arts); Emma Moore (BusEco, Law, Arts); Neha Patil (Arts); Mari Smith (Engineering/Art Design and Architecture); Tony Tan (Science/Arts) and Christopher Tham (Medicine) will travel to New York on Saturday 25 April for the eight-day internship program which will include visits to the United Nations, New York University, Bloomberg, and NBC and lunch with a senior advertising executive.

The eight students share their experiences

They will also attend functions with President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO and senior University alumni.

To be considered for the program, students were asked to submit a 30-second video explaining how they would change the world. From more than 400 entries, 20 students were shortlisted to move onto the interview stage with staff from External Relations, Development and Alumni (ERDA) and Monash Abroad.

Damien Farrell, ERDA Executive Director, said he was impressed with the calibre of the student submissions and their ability to espouse the Monash ethos.

“It was fantastic to see so many students make the connection between their student experience and the benefit their Monash education could have on others and their communities,” Mr Farrell said.

“Through meeting with our shortlisted students we were able to learn more about these goals and how they felt the program would benefit them both now and in their future career,” he said.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to arrive at the eight recipients. We propose to offer this program again in the future. I encourage all students who submitted applications to apply again and also apply for the many other opportunities available via Monash Abroad.”

Mr Farrell said ERDA would be working to establish similar alumni groups around the world.

“We hope that this program will act as a pilot of sorts for the Global Leaders networks in our six other locations whose objectives are to offer beneficial and unique opportunities for Monash students,” Mr Farrell said.

“On behalf of the University, I thank all the students who submitted videos and Sue Fennessy and the US Global Leaders Network for their initiative, foresight, and willingness to sponsor such an exciting program.”

This year's Global Discovery Program was made possible through the generosity of the four members of the US Global Leaders Network Board along with Monash University.  Intern programs, sponsorships and mentoring are all ways we would like to actively engage the US-based Monash alumni to build on the success of the Global Discovery Program.

Please contact us if you would like to offer your support to enhance the Monash student experience. 

Meet our eight student interns

Contact:

Phone:

Email: