Relieved parents send their kids back to school tomorrow for a new term full of hopes and dreams for the future. Joanna Mathers tracks down five former duxes to find out the secret of their success and to see how life turned out.
Stephen Jacobi, 52, head of NZ International Business Forum, Auckland.
1977 dux of Auckland Grammar.
Mangere doesn't evoke images of stately living. Most of Stephen ¬Jacobi's contemporaries at Auckland Grammar came from the leafy suburbs of Epsom, Remuera and the like. The son of two "working-class English immigrants" may not have fitted the Grammar stereotype, but his passion for learning and commitment to excellence took him to the top of one of New Zealand's best-known schools.
Jacobi was born in England in 1963, his parents moving to Auckland when he was young. His father worked at the airport and young ¬Jacobi attended Robertson Rd School and the local intermediate.
Family connections helped land him a spot at Grammar, but it was a culture shock. "It was all male and almost all white," he says. "Not at all what I was used to."
But he feels lucky to have attended the school when ex-All Black Sir John Graham was headmaster. A tough leader - "he didn't wear kid gloves," says Jacobi - he stamped out bullying in the school early in his tenure.
Auckland Grammar has a highly competitive environment and ¬Jacobi shone. He was "useless at maths and science" but top in history, English and languages. When he was awarded dux in 1977 he was one of a handful of boys to achieve the top award for arts subjects.
After school he studied French and German at Auckland Univer¬sity. He was awarded a scholar¬ship to Heidelberg University in ¬Germany during his studies and graduated with first-class honours.
He had always wanted to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the few jobs on offer were given to "more brilliant people than me" so he went to work for the Department of Trade and Industry.
This was the beginning of years of diplomatic and governmental work, including posts as deputy high commissioner in Ottawa and assistant trade commissioner in Paris.
On returning to New Zealand he set up Jacobi Consulting and his wife, Helen, after their years travelling around the world, decided to concentrate on her career as an ¬Anglican priest. The couple and daughters Hannah and Miryam moved to Hawkes Bay where ¬Helen led a ¬parish.
They have since moved back to Auckland and Helen is now vicar of St Matthew's in the City. Jacobi heads the New Zealand International Business Forum, providing leadership advice for businesses working internationally, and chairs a number of boards for educational facilities.
He believes young people who want to succeed should heed their teachers. "If they see something in you, listen to them. There is really no substitute for a good education. You need to find the sweet spot between learning and liking what you do."
Richard Stebbing, 25, working in artificial intelligence, San Francisco.
2006 dux of Northcote College.
Richard Stebbing.
Details of Richard Stebbing's job in San Francisco are top secret, but it involves artificial intelligence, and the details will be revealed "sometime in the next few years".
It's not much to go on, but Stebbing's workplace sounds like it wouldn't be out of place in a Hollywood sci-fi thriller.
Stebbing is the son of journalist Robin Welsh and recording studio head honcho Vaughan Stebbing. He was brought up in Herne Bay, but followed his sister's lead in going to Northcote College across the bridge.
He was brought up in a home that had a strong emphasis on independent thinking. His Dad encouraged his natural inquisitiveness, leaving maths problems around the house for him to solve.
Maths and science were passions - he loved to delve beyond the textbook and look at the wider context of what he was studying.
"It's so important to approach work looking for deeper understanding, rather than just solving the problems that are given to you."
He was also passionate about how he learnt. "I always tried to take value from the process," he said. "To find gems hidden in the learning experience."
Stebbing's thirst for understanding was rewarded in 2006 when he was named dux of the school.
He went on to study electrical engineering at Auckland ¬University and was granted a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University.
Although this independently directed learning environment differed from his earlier education, he thrived. "I met so many amazing people," he says. "As the learning is self-directed it is up to you to define the path you take."
The contacts he made at Oxford landed Stebbings his role in San Francisco. He's based in the city and searching for a flat.
"It's incredibly hard to find accommodation here," he says. "But I'm trying to take my own advice and enjoy the process."
Victoria Piatov, 19, law student, Auckland.
2013 dux of Avondale College.
Victoria Piatov. Photo / Doug Sherring
"I started off my life as a poor kid," says Victoria Piatov. "As time passed, things definitely got better, but it was hard at the beginning."
Piatov, 19, the 2013 Avondale College dux, wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
The daughter of Russian immigrants was brought up by a single mother. She loved learning and soaked up educational opportunities like a sponge.
Her Mum was a role model for hard graft. In communist Russia, before capitalism changed the economic landscape, hard work was celebrated as an absolute good, independent of financial gain. Piatov's mother, Lucy, had a work ethic that stood her in good stead in New Zealand, where she worked hard to pull her family out of poverty.
Accordingly, Piatov spent a lot of her early life alone. "My Mum never really read to me as a kid because she was so busy. I didn't really start reading for pleasure until year nine."
She loved Avondale College, saying the school had great teachers and gave her the opportunity to mix with those from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. She excelled in maths and indulged her love of English.
Piatov always had an international focus - the big issues were important to her and she wanted a career on an international stage. "And to get that job I knew I had to work hard at school," she says.
She is studying law at Auckland University. She hopes to get an internship at a law firm while at university, but sees her future offshore. Climate change is a particular focus.
As well as her academic life, Piatov has always been involved in drama. She is in rehearsals with the university Law Revue, an annual, comedy sketch show to be performed at Sky City in August. She is enjoying the process but it realistic about her talent in some areas.
"I have to dance in it, and I really am the most horrendous dancer."
Amanda Ashley, 43, oncologist, Greenhithe.
1989 dux of Kristin School.
Dr Amanda Ashley. Photo / Doug Sherring
Amanda Ashley wanted to be an architect "but wasn't good enough at drawing".
She thought of becoming a vet but "couldn't stand the thought of animals in pain". So the 1989 dux of -Albany private school Kristin became a doctor.
Ashley was brought up on the North Shore. Neither of her parents had a tertiary education but she was sent to the prestigious Kristin School after Birkenhead Primary, where "I never won anything".
But Ashley was motivated and competitive and the Kristin environment suited her.
Her first loves were English and reading was a passion - she won the English prize two years in a row. But in her third year of college she decided her dream of becoming an architect would never come to fruition. "Back then you had to be good at art, and I wasn't," she says.
So she decided medicine was the route she'd take. "I wasn't really great at science. It didn't come naturally at all," she says.
She was extremely hard working. "There were a lot of kids in the same boat. I was really competitive and without them I wouldn't have got the marks I needed."
After being awarded dux, Ashley was offered places at Auckland and Canterbury universities.
She chose Auckland and towards the end of her training, during a six-month placement to try the -different fields of medicine, she turned to ¬oncology.
"To be honest, the main thing that drew me in were the people," she says. "I had great colleagues, they were unusually nice and compassionate."
Ashley is now the team leader in gastrointestinal oncology at Auckland Hospital. She still loves the field, and says oncologists tend to be a very caring bunch.
"Every patient we meet is in a life or death situation," she says.
"We meet their families and get to know them extremely well. I think oncologists have to be nice people because they are dealing so closely with people in very difficult situations."
Ashley is married to neurologist Dean Kilfoyle and has two children, Aurora, 13, and Griffin, 9. They have recently moved to Greenhithe. Her two children are at Kristin, which she sees as a progressive school and well worth the fees.
"Both my children already know what they want to be. Aurora wants to be a child psychologist and Griffin wants to be a filmmaker. I want them to have the best possible education so they aren't limited in the choice of what they do."
Tama Potaka, 39, general manager corporate development Tainui Group Holdings, Hamilton.
1993 dux of Te Aute College.
Tama Potaka with his wife, Ariana, and from left, Te Awarua Tamatereka, Tiaria Te Ikaroa, Aorangi Te Aionuku. Photo / Chris Hillock
Napier's Te Aute College has a motto: "Whakatangata Kia Kaha" or "Like Men Be Strong".
It provided young Tama Potaka with a foundation on which to base his education and career.
"The concept of being strong and working through difficulties resonated with me," he says.
The Hamilton-based 39-year-old husband and father-of-three was dux of Te Aute College in 1993.
Today he is general manager of corporate development at Tainui Group Holdings. Hailing from "lots of small towns in the Hawkes Bay", Potaka was immersed in learning early. His parents were primary school teachers.
"I started school at 4 because my mother was working and she could look after me in the classroom while teaching," he says.
His family travelled a lot when he was young, moving for teaching work. Potaka was a voracious reader and his classroom was the school and the marae - his family was closely involved with the community and resettled family land when he was about 8 years old.
He became aware of the importance of the land and how its preservation and stewardship was integral to his people.
Culture and identity were also reinforced at Te Aute College. A Maori boarding school with a history of raising great leaders, Te Aute placed great emphasis on giving back to the community. "It really wasn't a 9-3 education," says Potaka.
"There was a lot of interaction with the community. The notion of service was integral to the life of the school."
While he was involved in life outside the classroom, Potaka was also a star within it.
Reading had always played a vital role, but he loved maths and Te Reo. After being awarded dux, he took up law at Victoria University and earned a first-class honours degree in 1999. He won a scholarship to Columbia University in New York in 2000.
Potaka's career post-study began as litigation associate in a New York law firm, before returning home and taking up roles in Te Puni ¬Kokiri as an independent contractor giving businesses legal advice, and as a solicitor at Bell Gully.
Whanau and community are still closest to his heart. He and his wife, Ariana Paul, he runs festivals and other community events. "I have a responsibility to give back."
He believes in flexibility in education, that if young people find a passion learning will develop.
"We shouldn't push a particular learning methodology onto young people. If they discover something they really love, this can be a ¬medium for learning all sorts of other things."
