Study dream comes true for Top End cop

Weipa police officer Jack Brauman's dream to visit New Caledonia has come true.

The full-time cop and CQUniversity student has been awarded a New Colombo Plan (NCP) scholarship that will see him head to the island nation to study for six months from June.

"I've been learning French for several years as a hobby. This opportunity provided through the NCP program will allow me to not just visit but to live there and to study in French at the University of New Caledonia (UNC)'" Brauman said.

"It will give me an opportunity to integrate into the culture and to improve my language proficiency that merely visiting couldn't provide."

The NCP is a signature initiative of the Australian Government which aims to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region.

As a 2023 Scholar' Brauman will contribute to re-engagement with the Indo-Pacific now that international borders have re-opened and travel has resumed.

Brauman' 28' said he was 'very much looking forward to studying in New Caledonia'.

"It will be the most difficult academic challenge I've ever attempted as the concepts studied at university are often complex enough in one's native language but' at UNC' all of the tuition is in French'" he said.

"It will be as difficult as it will be rewarding and I am so excited for it. I've also had the opportunity already to meet the other scholars who will be studying in New Caledonia this year and I'm looking forward to seeing them over there."

Brauman is about two years into his five-year Bachelor Laws and Bachelor of IT dual degree which he studies full-time while also working full-time.

"I've found that stress is more likely to come from a poorly-managed workload than merely from a large workload'" he explained.

"I developed a system for my studying that worked really well for me and it allowed me to stay on top of both working and studying'" he said.

"It also helps being genuinely interested in what you're studying. It would be difficult spending hundreds of hours learning about something that didn't really interest you. I have been aided a lot by CQUs flexibility in being able to watch the recordings of lectures and work on assignments whenever I want' allowing me to work my studying in around the shift work."

Originally from Cairns' Brauman said he chose to study law and IT for a number of reasons.

"Apart from being interesting on their own merit' I believe they provide good diversity and versatility'" he said.

"Everything we do in both our professional and personal lives is governed by law and having some knowledge of it is useful regardless of career path. And computers are already a ubiquitous part of our lives both professional and personal and are following a well-established trend of becoming even more ubiquitous'" he continued.

"The future is infamously difficult to predict so I wanted to future-proof as much as possible by studying fields that are versatile as well as interesting."

The New Colombo Plan is funded by the Australian Government. For more information about NCP opportunities at CQUniversity contact the CQUGlobal Office via cquglobal-out@cqu.edu.au or visit the CQUGlobal Terra Dotta portal.

The New Colombo Plan Scholarship Program provides opportunities for Australian undergraduate students to undertake semester-based study and internships or mentorships for up to 19 months in 40 participating Indo-Pacific locations. Each Australian university can nominate up to 10 students per year.