This year’s recipient of the Ella Olesen scholarship is Brontë Wright, of Port St Mary.

Brontë, 21, will study at the University of Idaho from August 2018 after being awarded the scholarship by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture.

The scholarship is named after a registrar of the university who died in 1985. Ella’s Manx ancestry - her mother Margaret Teare was born in Ballaugh and emigrated to America in 1890 - led her to gift the scholarship in 1971.

It is awarded annually to a female degree student who has been supported through her studies by the department.

Education Minister Graham Cregeen and Andrew Shipley, legal and administration manager, selected Brontë from four candidates they interviewed.

The former Castle Rushen High School student is studying for a BA honours in history at the University of Durham.

She has also studied Russian and Arabic at university, has helped transform disused offices into an art space for students and residents, belongs to the Folk and Caledonian Society and has been a member of the sailing team.

Last year, she volunteered with a human rights charity in Ghana for three months, later mounting an exhibition of her art, inspired by the country. She has also worked at a refugee camp in Greece.

Brontë is a past winner of the Barclays Student of the Year Award and has received a North American Manx Award.

In Idaho, she hopes to study international relations as well as learning a language and continuing her art.

Mr Cregeen said: ’The scholarship is a superb opportunity for a local graduate to live and work in another country ... I wish Brontë well.’

Brontë said: ’I am surprised and delighted to have been awarded this scholarship. It opens up a whole new area of opportunity I would never have imagined possible. I hope to build on my ambition of having a career in international development. This has all been possible thanks to the great secondary school education I received in the island.’