A Balgownie waiter with a passion for social justice will benefit from a $10,000 UOW scholarship.
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Law student Nathan Johnston is the first in his family to go to university; he juggles his studies with a part-time job at Il Nido Trattoria Pizzeria in Balgownie.
His status as one of the university's brightest young legal minds was confirmed recently when he was awarded the annual Jack Goldring Memorial Scholarship, named in honour of UOW Law's foundation dean.
"[Jack Goldring] was a brilliant educator who believed in a robust, well-rounded style of education - educating the whole person and getting people not just to know the rules of law, but their effect on society," Mr Johnston said.
"I'm really humbled to be associated with him."
The former Smith's Hill High School student was awarded the scholarship for his distinction-average grades and volunteer efforts.
He is president of the UOW Law Students' Society and is a mentor and tutor for the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience.
Through his public interest law course, he has also become involved with SCARF (Strategic Community Assistance for Refugees).
Mr Johnston said his voluntary projects had produced "the most rewarding" moments of his college life.
"They enrich your time at university, otherwise it can be a place of simply attending, doing exams and coming home, when there's so much more on offer."
Mr Johnston will complete a clerkship at Linklaters in London, then go on exchange at the University of British Columbia before his expected graduation in 2015.