Sophy Ron will begin her degree after completing a foundation year of study at Trinity College.
Sophy Ron spent eight years of her childhood surrounded by garbage and toxic fumes while living in a notorious Cambodian rubbish dump nicknamed "Smoky Mountain".
Less than a decade after escaping, the 21-year-old is about to begin studying at the University of Melbourne and dreams of running her own business.
Her former home, the Steng Meanchey landfill in Phnom Penh, has long been a symbol of the country's poverty.
Each day, thousands of people pick through the filth in the hope of finding edible food and recyclables to sell.
Sophy Ron and her family lived at the dump because they couldn't afford proper housing
On a good day Ms Ron would earn 50 cents, enough for a few cups of rice to share with her parents and six siblings.
"I didn't realise it was smelly, I didn't realise it was dirty," she said.
"I slept there, I ate there, I did everything there, so it became my home."
Ms Ron said overwhelming debts left her family with no choice but to live at the dump site.
The local school only offered a place to one child per family, so Ms Ron missed out on a chance to study
She said she followed her older sister to school and learned what she could by looking through the classroom windows.