Former Paralegal Wins 2009 NSW Rhodes Scholarship

Former Australian paralegal Natasha Simonsen has won the 2009 NSW Rhodes Scholarship. She is currently working for the United Nations as a legal staffer in Pakistan. She also worked as a paralegal for Sydney international law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, serving on the charity committee, starting a literacy program for disadvantaged children, working pro bono on refugee cases and volunteering at a homeless shelter.

Of her work with the homeless, she said:

Mostly they just want to talk. They're so lonely that they want to talk much more than they want the food or a good night's sleep or the clean towel and shower. They get out the photos of the family and tell you about how they ended up like this.

Simonsen plans to obtain a 1-year Masters of Law from Oxford and then pursue her work in international human rights law.

From The Sydney Morning Herald. See also The University of Sydney.