Whanganui teenager Emma Conley has little doubt that her grandfather would be happy to see her heading to Victoria University to study international relations.
Emma is the latest recipient of the Eric & Zita Lawrence Trust Bursary Award of $3000 towards her study costs, and her essay about her grandfather Zellic Garvitch's World War II experiences impressed the trust members.
Mr Garvitch was the son of a Siberian immigrant father and New Zealander mother who served as a navy radio mechanic on British warships.
Emma wrote that her grandfather met her grandmother - Australian Joan Dodd, while stationed in Melbourne and she would later follow him home to New Zealand.
"Grandad's involvement in the war meant that he couldn't go to university, and so his life's path was changed forever," wrote Emma.