Taranaki Diocesan School 2023 Dux Stacey Lodge and Proxime Accessit Catherine Hurly. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Taranaki Diocesan School 2023 Dux Stacey Lodge and Proxime Accessit Catherine Hurly. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Taranaki Diocesan’s deputy head girl Stacey Lodge and head girl Catherine Hurly have finished their secondary schooling on an academic high - having been named Dux and Proxime Accessit.
It was a great way to end their final year at school says Stacey, who is heading south to Otago to study health science next year.
“I know I want to work in health in some way, so in that first year of study I hope to find what I am most passionate about. At the moment I think it might be medical research, maybe inspired by current events in the world over recent times, I can see the need certainly for research in the medicine and health field.”
When asked to pick a highlight from her time at Taranaki Diocesan, Stacey says it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one.
“Our year group is so close, we’ve done so many things together over the years. There’s been lots of good memories made here.”
She’s also enjoyed seeing “the workings of the school from behind the scenes” she says, through her role as deputy head girl, but also having spent a year as the school’s student rep on the board of trustees.
“You see all that is done in the back to get things done and understand it all a bit more.”
Taranaki Diocesan School deputy head girl for 2023, Stacey Lodge, was named Dux at the school's prizegiving in December 2023. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Working closely with Catherine as school leaders is another highlight.
“While we obviously knew each other before this year, we have got to know each other even better, and that’s been really good, so her being named Proxime and myself Dux was a great feeling.”
Being named Dux is an honour, she says, but hadn’t been her deliberate focus over NCEA.
“When I was younger at the school, I saw it as something to aim for, but then as I moved into my senior years here, I was more just focusing on my own study and hadn’t really made it a goal as such, it was more about doing my best for myself.”
Catherine Hurly, Taranaki Diocesan School head girl for 2023, was named the school's Proxime Accessit at the school's prize giving in December 2023 Photo / Ilona Hanne
Catherine,18, says the same is true for her in achieving Proxime Accessit.
“While it was a goal in a way, I really was just trying to do my best and to be the best I can be in my own personal school life.”
Catherine is in the midst of planning her OE with another Taranaki Diocesan student, saying the two of them plan to head to Europe in the second half of 2024.
“The first half we are going to be working to save money. I am working on a farm and trying to save as much as possible ready for travel.”
After her OE Catherine plans to head to university, “but I’m not sure yet what I will study, so I’m taking the year to work that out”.
Like Stacey, Catherine’s time at Taranaki Diocesan School is packed full of great memories.
“I think one of the biggest highlights, or maybe it’s about what makes this school so special, is the closeness of the students, and how the teachers and everyone’s families all care about us. I have had people I don’t know come up and hug me and congratulate me at prizegiving, parents of other students who aren’t even in our year. It is a close community here, and that’s not just words, it is something special.”
When it comes to advice to younger or future students at the school, Catherine says one thing is certainly to enjoy that close school community.
“Everyone here wants you to do well in whatever it is that inspires you. So yes, work hard, but also take every opportunity you can. There are lots of opportunities offered here so look for them and take them.”
Stacey agrees.
“You have to believe in yourself, and trust yourself to try things. That’s how you grow. So don’t hold yourself back. Everyone here already believes in you so give it a go and surprise yourself.”
Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls senior prizewinners:
