Natalie Shaw – Southern Cross Scholarship. Health Science – University of Otago

Natalie is a queer woman with a passion for the sciences and is excited to pursue a career in health. She led her high school in both environmental, sustainability and LGBTQIA+ projects and initiatives. As leader of the LGBTQIA+ club she organised pride week, began the implementation of school pronoun badges, and was a support person for people in the NPGHS queer community. Outside of school she frequently attended Q’ed Up sessions run by InsideOut in the Rainbow Youth space. Natalie considers being a good role model to her peers as very important.

She loves water sports. Water polo, swimming, surfing lifesaving sports if it involves water Natalie is a fan. She has also used this passion to amass over 200 hours volunteering as a lifeguard at Fitzroy Beach. She is also a performer and uses drama as an outlet to express her identity. Natalie is also working towards being fluent in Spanish.

With the dream of being a psychiatrist, Natalie has a special interest in mental health. However, her shorter-term goal is to work hard to gain entrance into med school and work towards becoming a doctor. Natalie believes that the health system is vitally important as queer people are still not receiving adequate support in this area.