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Home sweet Rome for student winner of inaugural arts travel prize

ACU Bachelor of Arts student Kathryn Palmer has her eyes set on Rome after winning the inaugural Catenian Association Arts Travel Prize.

The prize, worth $2000, will give Ms Palmer, who is president of ACU’s Mount St Mary Student Association, a chance to study one international unit at ACU’s Rome campus.

On accepting the award, Ms Palmer said she was overjoyed: “I express my immense thanks to the donors of this prize money, as well as those involved in the Catenian Association, the Exchange and Study Abroad Office, and the ACU Faculty of Education and Arts, for making this possible.”

As part of her degree, Ms Palmer is studying global religions and hopes to pursue an interest in Comparative Abrahamic Theology.

Her career interest was sparked by a life-changing decision to convert to Catholicism in 2019.

The Catenian Association Arts Travel Prize is being awarded annually for five years to a high-achieving student enrolled in a degree offered by the National School of Arts.

The recipient must be eligible to enrol in the ACU International core curriculum unit UNCC300 Justice and Change in a Global World, in Italy (or another core program location in New Zealand or Australia if travel to other locations is not possible).

In congratulating Ms Palmer on her award, the Australian National President of the Catenian Association, Ralph Fitzpatrick, said that it was important for the Association to advance the interests of young Catholics.

“By supporting Kathryn with this travel prize as she participates in the university’s International Core unit, we not only progress an Association aim, but also enhance her opportunities to realise the programme’s potential for personal and spiritual growth,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.

The Catenian Association is an international fraternity of Catholic men founded in 1908.

Australian Catenians share the interdependence of St Mary MacKillop's charism, lived through faith, friendship, respect and service.

For more detailed information please visit their official website.