Lilly Brown will make Cambridge history by becoming the first person of indigenous Australian descent to graduate from the University.

Brown, 27, will graduate in October with a Masters of Philosophy in Politics from Trinity College. She was a recipient of the 2012 Charlie Perkins Scholarship, a scheme run by the Charlie Perkins Trust, which works to provide talented indigenous Australians with the opportunity to study at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Brown identifies with the Gumbaynggirr people from the mid-north coast of Australia, and also has English and Scottish ancestry. She is one of the first people in her family to enter higher education.

Before studying at Cambridge, Brown achieved a degree in history anthropology at the University of Western Australia, completing an honours year at the University of Melbourne and a secondment to McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is now pursuing a career in education and is teaching at the University of Melbourne, as well as using her free time to mentor the next generation of high school students with Aboriginal ancestry.

“I would hope that my success would inspire young indigenous Australians to chase their dreams, and all young Australians in general,” Brown said to Cambridge News. “I feel absolutely blessed by this opportunity, but when I was growing up I had never heard of Cambridge, least of all expected that one day I may undertake study at one of the most prestigious learning environments in the world.

“It’s about telling my story, and the struggle I went through in getting to where I am and then making it that little bit easier for other to follow in my path.”

Earlier this year, another Cambridge student, Zoah Hedges-Stocks, also made the headlines by being the first traveller to graduate from the University, gaining a First in History from Murray Edwards College.