Young NZ scholars get top marks for humility

By ANGELA GREGORY

They don't really know one another, but two of New Zealand's brightest high-school students enjoy a mild rivalry.

Aucklanders Richard Yu and Graeme Mak are the top-equal scholars in this year's New Zealand Education and Scholarship Trust (NZEST) exams.

"Have you interviewed Richard yet? Is he a beast?" asks Graeme, with a hint of a glint in his eyes.

"I think he's a bit better than me," Graeme had earlier admitted.

Richard, likewise, knows of Graeme through various national and international competitions, and they both credit their schools for their successes.

They also agree that they were only two of many top-performing students who could have come out in front in the scholarship examinations.

Graeme, who attends Auckland Grammar, said many of his friends had done well in the exams.

"There is not a lot between us. I was lucky to come out top."

The 18-year-old is now considering whether to apply to enter an overseas university or stay on and perhaps study engineering in Auckland.

Graeme also enjoys art subjects and is wary of narrowing his field too soon.

He scored the top mark in Latin (95 per cent) and performed well in French.

Graeme, who came to New Zealand with his family from Hong Kong in 1993, has a special passion for pure maths, which he compares to art.

"Nature is modelled by maths. I get the same joy from doing it as a painter would looking at their work."

And when his head is out of his books, Graeme likes to hit the rugby field or tennis court.

Richard, by comparison, enjoys archery, soccer, the piano and the viola as time-out. Born in Tianjin, near Beijing, he came to New Zealand in 1997 with his parents.

The principal of his first NZ school, at Takanini, recognised Richard's potential and encouraged him to apply for a scholarship to attend King's College. Richard won the scholarship, and kept winning it, which paid the bulk of his fees at the private school in Otahuhu.

In this year's NZEST results four of the top 10 scholars came from King's. "We've never had so many top students, and had six subject firsts," Richard said.

The advent of the NCEA scholarship exams next year means this is the last time the NZEST will provide the challenging exams, as it has done for 12 years.

Going out in style, Richard became the first and now only student to achieve an A+ grade in six subjects.

He garnered the top scores in biology, chemistry and physics and also scored highly in maths, classical studies and music.