Lanarkshire student heads Stateside for dream marine science scholarship
A Lanarkshire star student is getting set to head to the States for a dream scholarship combining her two passions.
Hamilton teenager Ava Ruston will spend the next four years studying marine science at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida, after earning a merit scholarship to the higher education institution.
The former pupil of Dalziel High in Motherwell is a master scuba diver and attended a summer camp at the American college two years ago – and has now realised her dream of becoming a full-time student there as she begins her four-year course.
Ava has a long-standing keen interest in marine animals including manatees, rays and sharks; and discovered her love of and talent for scuba diving on a family holiday to Greece in 2019.
She has since progressed through multiple diving qualifications; and then discovered her new college while searching for marine science camps combining her two interests, attending a summer course at the Florida college two years ago.
The 18-year-old told the Hamilton Advertiser: 'I got to know about Eckerd College as it was one of the top ones offering camps, and when I got there, I said, 'this is the college I want to study at' and decided to apply.
'It has a really good course for marine science – I love mantarays and manatees and when I started diving I wanted to learn more about them, and since having been quite close to them at camp thought they were something I'd like to know more about and would enjoy studying.'
She added: 'I was on holiday aged 12 when I decided I wanted to do scuba for the first time; I was really interested in getting to see what things were like underwater. I've done eight levels of qualification with Scuba Dive Scotland, at Loch Long, and the next step would be dive master which is the first professional level, and I hope I can do that when I get to college.
'The waters are much warmer and we can see much further; sometimes in Scotland we're only able to see for short distances underwater like to the end of your arm, but in Florida you can see further and I'll be able to see different animals in their natural habitat.'
Ava, of Barncluith, successfully applied Stateside after submitting her Higher results, recommendations from teachers at Dalziel High and a college admission essay outlining her reasons for choosing Eckerd.
She said: 'I didn't tell many people before I applied, but once I'd got in my teachers sent an email round school and everyone has been quite happy about it.'
Now she is getting ready to head to America next month – accompanied to help her settle in by parents Yvonne and Mark and twin brother Lewis – and Ava added: 'I'm really looking forward to getting started, being at college and meeting people from different cultures.'
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