WINTER
2015
DRIVE FOR SUCCESS
Matthew McLean
MATTHEW McLean’s can-do attitude is palpable. The 23-year-old winner of the 2015 Bond University Alumni Student Award was once the driving force of the Bond student body, he was a founding leader of the Bond in Africa project and recipient of the Long Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award. McLean describes the first Bond graduates as ‘pathfinders’ who took a risk on the then fledgling University, but the recent Bachelor and Master of Laws graduate is no less a pathfinder than those who have gone before him. He had his first break as a 17-year-old fresh out of school, helping in the electorate office for a Member of Parliament in Newcastle. He already had an Australian Defence Force Long Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award and school captaincy behind him. These experiences revealed a passion for policy and leadership, before he was fortuitously guided to Bond. “Truth be told, I had no intention of
10
www.arch.bond.edu.au
coming to Bond, but when I entered under the arch for the first time and walked the thinking stairs, it was pretty hard to say no,” says McLean. “There was also a crystallising moment when Mr Alan Finch, the Pro ViceChancellor for Students and Academic Support, who I consider the de facto father of our student body, spoke at our scholarship commencement dinner. “He concluded his speech by saying, ‘I trust you have enjoyed your brief stay at Bond and I hope you would consider making it a longer one’ – and had me absolutely sold.” McLean accepted a Bond University ViceChancellor’s Elite Scholarship in 2010, recognised for what was already a wealth of leadership, academic, community and extra-curricular achievements. Nevertheless, he was quick to set an even higher standard for himself and others. He soon assumed positions of Chair and Councillor of the Education and Academic Affairs Council, Vice-President (Education)
of the Bond University Student Association, which later evolved into a Presidency, and balanced this with media and electorate roles for the Queensland Government Whip and State Member for Albert. From 2012, McLean also held research positions within the Bond University Office for Quality, Teaching and Learning and the Centre for Law, Governance and Public Policy. This work both afforded McLean a Bond University Contribution to Teaching and Learning Award and informed his career direction. “Through my legal research role, I came in contact with the National Disability Insurance Scheme which was then being developed by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. “It was my first experience with social policy on a government level and I knew full well after that I wanted to take a role in Canberra and work in the area of public policy.”