Lewis Jones is this year preparing to take on the world, after graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the University of New England in Armidale.
Mr Jones, a science enthusiast since a young age, told the Truth that “I’ve always been interested in science. My science teachers in High School were a great influence on me. They really fostered my passion.”
“My big influences have always supported my interests, and science was my passion.”
Mr Jones added that he loved science because “I love making things, it’s like cooking, or writing, or drawing. Taking the building blocks of something and turning them into something new, figuring out what makes it tick and how to build it better.”
During early High School, Mr Jones undertook some of his studies through X-Sel, a virtual selective school that focused on advanced English, Science, and Mathematics. X-Sel rebranded to become Aurora College in 2015, to coincide with Mr Jones’s second year of secondary school.
“X-Sel classes took priority over my other classes, but I didn’t struggle with the classes I was taken out of because I was pretty well adjusted,” Mr Jones said. He also benefited from several residential programs that allowed him to meet his virtual classmates and students in-person.
Aside from his studies, he worked at Woolworths in Broken Hill, and transferred to Woolworths in Armidale at the start of 2020, where he continued his employment with the organisation throughout his tertiary studies to “help put me through University.”
Mr Jones reminisced that “the biggest challenge [of attending University] for me was being apart from my friends and family, I’ve always been able to roll with the punches when it comes to academic stuff. But going at it mostly alone in a course with only a few other people can be tough.”
Notwithstanding he learned that “you don’t have to be in a rush. I’ve burnt out before, and looking at it from the other side, I can see my improvement both personally and academically after I took the time to scale back and figure out how I actually wanted to go about getting the rest of my degree.”
With this realisation, Mr Jones flourished during his studies- he was named Dux at Mary White College and received the Riggs Prize in Chemistry in 2021 and 2022.
On top of these achievements, Mr Jones received the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar Award, which is “a way for the University of New England to recognise, celebrate and reward the achievements of our most academically high-achieving students,” according to an information page detailing the award.
As scores of locals now prepare to embark on their own tertiary experience, Mr Jones mentioned that “I think I’d tell [new University students] to remember to get out of your room as much as you can. College can be a lot more fun if you’re taking advantage of what’s on offer. Don’t just stare at the same four walls all day.”
With a degree now under his belt, Mr Jones and his partner are preparing to move to Brisbane, where he says there are many opportunities to enter the workforce in the Chemistry sphere.
“I’m excited to work in a lab and get some career experience under my belt,” he laughed. Now, he is only weeks away from living this dream.
