From the moment he arrived at Gonville & Caius College, Isaac Mellis-Glynn’s (Human, Social & Political Sciences 2022) mind was fixed on his long-term mission: to help New Zealand, his home country, become a world leader in mental health.

Isaac took the first steps towards his goal before matriculating at the University of Cambridge. While in Year 13, he set up a student-run initiative, Our Courage, which shared the mental health stories of inspirational, high-profile New Zealanders through online interviews.

He adds: “It came out of an awareness that youth mental health is a really pressing problem, and a desire on my part – and the part of the individuals I worked with – to start a conversation around it and promote as much dialogue as possible, to destigmatise those conversations and encourage people to reach out for support.

“If I look back on high school, it’s definitely the thing I’m most proud of.”

But to continue making a large-scale difference, Isaac needed to enhance his leadership skills and his knowledge of policymaking, in which he hopes to work in the future. Cambridge offered the perfect training ground.

Isaac came to Caius on the College’s Sir Douglas Myers Scholarship, which provides tuition fees and a living allowance for academically distinguished students from New Zealand. Isaac expresses his deep gratitude for this support and was keen to give back to Caius wherever he could. For his contribution to the life of the College, he is the 2025 recipient of the Lock Tankard, awarded annually to the "most deserving Caian”.

Particularly notable and formative in Isaac’s time at the College was his presidency of the Gonville & Caius Students’ Union in 2023-24. Unsurprisingly, student wellbeing was his priority in this role.

“I learned a lot in that role,” he adds. “Namely, how to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders – groups of students, committee members, staff, Fellows, College committees, the College Council – to create solutions that are mutually beneficial. And how to navigate complex institutional structures, as there’s quite a lot of institutional complexity within the College. It was a very formative experience.

“In all decisions, a big focus for me was considering, ‘How is this going to affect the welfare of Caius undergraduates? What can we be doing in how we make this decision or how we communicate this decision to really enhance student wellbeing as much as possible?’”

In his HSPS studies, too, Isaac feels he has learned many valuable lessons that he can carry forward to further his future aims.

“I had the opportunity to explore public policy in my third year,” he says. “I enjoyed delving into policymaking processes, the different challenges that face contemporary policymakers, and the opportunities for progress in that space.

“More broadly, the study of political thought, different political institutions and comparative politics furthered my understanding of the intellectual and historical contexts against which contemporary policymaking takes place.”

As he continues working towards his ultimate goal of making a significant contribution to mental health policy, Isaac’s next step will be an MSc in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Oxford. There he plans to undertake research into New Zealand’s mental health policy in comparison with international best practice.

He is excited for what his future holds and hopes before too long to be leaving his mark; at Caius he already has.