A postgraduate nursing student at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Luna Chencinski, is one of two Stellenbosch University students to be awarded US$1000 each by the Mensa Education and Research Foundation in the USA to further their studies.

The other recipient, Jess Steyn, is a second-year student BA Language and Culture student. Chencinski and Steyn are two of only five South Africans to receive these bursaries.

"What makes this accomplishment remarkable is that over 11 000 students globally competed for the scholarships; the fact that two of the five available scholarships were awarded to South Africans - who are both from the Winelands chapter of Mensa South Africa - is unprecedented," said the organisation in a media release.

Chencinski, a registered nurse who resides in Gordons Bay, joined Mensa in 2003, and is studying a post-graduate diploma in Nursing Education at SU. She notes that there are very few nurse educators in South Africa, with demand far exceeding supply, and looks forward to being able to make a positive contribution to the profession.

"Few registered nurses want to be involved in education as most prefer to work in the clinical field, whereas I enjoy teaching and feel this is my niche.  It would be extremely rewarding to me, sending out confident and competent qualified nurses into the workforce," Chencinski said.

Mensa is a high IQ society which provides a forum for intellectual exchange among its members.  There are over 120 000 members in more than 100 countries around the world.

The Mensa Education & Research Foundation's scholarship programme bases its awards totally on essays written by the applicants explaining his or her career, academic and/or vocational goals and how they plan to achieve those goals. Eligibility is restricted to Mensa members and consideration is not given to age, race, gender, level of education, grade point average, or financial need.