“Throughout my high school experience, I met my fair share of people who did things just for awards and leadership titles. I think at the end of the day it is better to put genuine passion and effort into things that you enjoy, rather than trying to do everything because you think it will help you get an award.
“All that will happen is that you end up will feeling disappointed, as if your efforts were useless if you don’t get the award - despite the personal growth and development that is experienced, that ends up being ignored because you don’t get a trophy for it. Doing your personal best will help you grow, which is the best award that you can ask for in life. Be grateful for what you have and how far you have come, not bitter about the trophies you didn’t win.
“It’s quite hard for me to decide on a favourite subject, I feel like they all had their ups and downs. Having danced outside of school for most of my life, I obviously enjoyed dance at school, WGC has amazing facilities and a great teacher for dance, so a lot of learning took place in my 5 years which I am really grateful for.
“Other than that, I liked psychology quite a lot, it was a lot of writing which is something I enjoy. This year I had to do the work out of the timetabled class line, which was great for my personal development, I had to be quite independent and rely on my own motivation to get the work done which are skills that will definitely be helpful in the future.
“Fashion and Design is another passion of mine, and I always loved going into the fashion room to be creative for a few hours a week. Mrs Samantha Overweel, who unfortunately moved away last year, was my fashion teacher for most of my time at WGC and I still consider her to be one of my favourite teachers.
“She just had a neat approach to teaching; she was great at instructing and helping students while still giving us the freedom to create and learn independently. She is always really kind and there to support me, in fact she sent me a message after she found out about me being dux, it was really sweet.
“Miss Jessica Foster, my biology teacher this year, is another one of my favourite teachers, she is just always so kind and makes her classroom such a safe space for her students. She made biology easy to understand and was always willing to help, no question was a dumb question. Both teachers have had a big impact on me and I’m really thankful for the influence that they’ve had on my life.
“This year I will be attending the University of Auckland to study a Bachelor of Dance Studies. It’s quite exciting for me, I’m really looking forward to focusing my studies solely on growing as a dancer.
“I’m not entirely sure what I would like to do in the long term workwise, I’m open to the dance studies course providing me with new opportunities and skills, so I don’t really want to set my mind on anything too specific just yet.
“Life is unpredictable and we can only guess what the future has in store for us, so I am happy to keep my options open and find out when I get there. At the WGC prizegiving, I did jointly receive the Ngaire Craig scholarship which will help immensely with funding the move up to Auckland.
“I’m super grateful for the financial support as I move into the next chapter of my life as well as just the general support from the staff at WGC over the past five years.”
