Gifted law student wins 2011 Graeme Clark Scholarship

For University of NSW law student and cochlear implant recipient Calvin Shaw – the 2011 recipient of the Graeme Clark Scholarship – having a cochlear implant has enabled him to pursue his love of law and teaching.

Calvin was diagnosed with profound deafness at nine months of age, caused by Meningococcal Meningitis. At two years of age (at the time the earliest age of implantation) he received a cochlear implant – and he says it changed his life, particularly in his chosen field.

“I am able to communicate effectively with my peers, teachers and friends,” Calvin says. “Law, my passion, is dialogue-heavy in teaching and practice. The cochlear implant enables me to study law and pursue greater opportunities in higher education. It has significantly increased my overall quality of life in everything I do.”

Calvin is in his final year of studies at UNSW and in February 2012 will begin working as a graduate lawyer with Freehills in Sydney. He also aspires to undertake a Masters of Law.

“I plan to lead a rich and fulfilling career, balancing corporate work with participation in programs that reach out to homeless and disadvantaged youths,” Calvin says.

Ultimately Calvin’s goals are to move into a teaching role, “because I believe in the value of knowledge transmission, as well as equipping future generations with an idea of not only what the law is, but what the law can be.”

“In a way, the scholarship will be testimony to my commitment to use teaching to improve the lives of others,” he says.

“Teaching is a great passion of mine because I love helping people to try to understand law. I like to make a difference in the lives of people disadvantaged by many factors and give them the tools to grow out of their disadvantage.

“The indigenous students I teach often inspire me with their work ethic, leading me to take social justice leadership on initiatives such as reforming the University of New South Wales Law Journal, on whose Executive Board I sit, to address certain social inequities.”

Calvin, who in 2010 was an exchange student at the Boston College of Law, currently teaches law courses to indigenous law and pre-law students at the UNSW under the Federal Government’s Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme, in addition to tutoring undergraduate first-year law students.

In addition to his love of law, Calvin also has a strong interest in fine arts and, indeed, has a degree in Art History. “I intend to somehow converge my interest in fine arts and law to support young up-and-coming artists,” he adds.