An ANU student and Rhodes scholarship winner shows that it is possible to mix academic and sporting lives.

What is a good measure of success? Is it setting goals and reaching them? Milestones along the road to one ultimate aim? Perhaps it’s just about deciding what you want to do and achieving the best that you can.

By any of those measures, even at the age of just 23, Dan Guinness has already achieved the extraordinary.

Guinness, at ANU completing Honours in Anthropology, has another talent beyond his studies – he forms part of the Brumbies Academy and even spent a year in Italy playing professional rugby.

But his achievements don’t stop there. In December last year this future sporting star added a great victory to the scoreboard by securing one of the much-coveted Australia at Large Rhodes Scholarships.

It was, he says, an unnerving moment.

“After the last interview all 15 candidates were brought before the panel. That was a daunting moment, we were all stood there in front of the committee and they announced who the three recipients were,” he says.

“The people that weren’t successful were stood right beside you – I found it a really socially awkward situation.”

Competition for the scholarships is fierce and winning one of the prize spots offers the opportunity to follow in some famous footsteps. Among the famous Rhodes Scholars around the world are Kim Beazley, Naomi Wolf, Geoffrey Robertson and Bill Clinton.

The scholarships are handed out on an annual basis to students who not only demonstrate exceptional academic prowess, but also live up to scholarship founder Cecil Rhodes’ daunting ideals, including truthfulness, protection for the weak, devotion to duty and – especially true in Guinness’ case – physical vigour.

Securing the scholarship means Guinness will set off later this year to study at Oxford University where he has applied to do a Masters of Migration Studies.

Guinness says that after finding out he had won the scholarship he was initially nervous.

“I felt the weight of expectations weighing down upon me even before I’d accepted the scholarship,” he says.
“It took a week or two to really sink in and get to a point where I saw it as a great opportunity rather than something that carries with it these huge expectations.”

You would think, however, that if anyone can carry the weight of expectation on their shoulders it would be Guinness. In addition to his role in the Brumbies Academy and his year in Italy, he has also represented his country at both Universities and Under 21 level with his chosen sport.
The Italian experience, he says, gave him some great life lessons that he hopes to take to Oxford.

“I gained a lot of experience of playing professional rugby in Italy, but it’s a much harder environment.

“Firstly Italy isn’t as developed in terms of coaching and secondly living away from your own culture – at least for the initial period – is a struggle. Eventually I became quite proficient in Italian, but for the first few months it was very difficult.

“I think Oxford will be similar. But I’m sure there will be a small network of people that I can instantly tap into. In Italy that was some of my teammates, at Oxford it could be the people I’m living around in the college or people I’m in class with.”

For most people, excelling in one field would be testing enough, so how does Guinness manage his time and maintain the motivation to stay on top? He says getting there has meant sacrifices along the way.

“When I came back from Italy my training was heavy during the day, so when I went to study I was often physically tired. There were two months at the end of the year when I was playing or training from 9am to 2pm, then studying from 3pm until two in the morning, then getting it up and doing it all again. By the end I was just wrecked – I was almost physically ill.

“But I’ve always thought there’s no point doing things if you don’t want to do them well. When something matters enough to put the time and effort in – and both university and rugby for me required huge sacrifices in terms of time – there’s no point doing that if you’re not holding yourself to high standards,” he says.

And while his two worlds may seem poles apart, the second-rower thinks that diversity is one of the keys to happiness in life.

“It’s so important to value a diversity of interests, whether that’s sport, academia, music, running your own business or making art. As human beings you lead a better life if you’re engaged in multiple areas and the fact that the Rhodes Scholarship rewarded that really appealed to me.”

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ANU Reporter 
Autumn 2008