Good morning/ afternoon/ evening, I’m Selina Wong.
First of all, I just want to say how grateful I am to be a recipient of this Rotary scholarship!
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to be one step closer to reaching my goal of studying
in the medical field and becoming a radiologist!
I am currently 18 years old and grew up in Drury. I went to Drury School Primary and I am currently in my last year of high school at Rosehill College. Back in primary school, we didn't have any science classes so my first ever science classes started in high school and from then on science classes have been one of my favourite classes to go to. I am very family orientated, being the eldest in my family with 2 younger brothers. Having grown up on a farm I’ve always had a passion for sciences and looking after things from animals and family to plants. In my spare time, I like to be creative with my hobbies including; painting, floral arrangements, knitting and baking.
During my high school years, I took a wide variety of subjects including; woodwork, DVC, food tech, accounting, classical studies, social studies and drama for two years, art classes for three years, English and French for 4 years and calculus, physics, biology, chemistry for 5 years. I would say that I’ve chosen quite a broad range of subjects which helped me discover my passion for sciences. I have passed NCEA levels 1 and 2 with Excellence endorsements.
Apart from subjects I’ve also entered into many science-based competitions such as engineering competition and brain bee and volunteered to be in committees such as the environmental committee and interact club (a fundraising committee). Not only this but I’ve also joined South Sci stem, a community-based project, looking to help improve the health of others and the environment which links closely to my future career.
I’ve also joined sports teams such as badminton and tennis. I came runner up in the Counties school badminton team for B grade and first place in the girl's team for clash of the smash (badminton). This was one of the many highlights of my high school year as not only did I get to meet new people during these badminton tournaments but I also got to develop my leadership skills.
My plans for next year is to study Biomedical Science or Health Science at Auckland University and get the required points so that I can proceed into doing a bachelor of medical imaging for the next four years. During the time of my studies, I will also get a part-time job to help me financially. For the first year studying at Auckland University, I have chosen to stay at home and commute each day to Auckland Uni via Auckland transport.
Once again I just want to say a massive thank you for giving me this opportunity!
Selina Wong
First of all, I just want to say how grateful I am to be a recipient of this Rotary scholarship!
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to be one step closer to reaching my goal of studying
in the medical field and becoming a radiologist!
I am currently 18 years old and grew up in Drury. I went to Drury School Primary and I am currently in my last year of high school at Rosehill College. Back in primary school, we didn't have any science classes so my first ever science classes started in high school and from then on science classes have been one of my favourite classes to go to. I am very family orientated, being the eldest in my family with 2 younger brothers. Having grown up on a farm I’ve always had a passion for sciences and looking after things from animals and family to plants. In my spare time, I like to be creative with my hobbies including; painting, floral arrangements, knitting and baking.
During my high school years, I took a wide variety of subjects including; woodwork, DVC, food tech, accounting, classical studies, social studies and drama for two years, art classes for three years, English and French for 4 years and calculus, physics, biology, chemistry for 5 years. I would say that I’ve chosen quite a broad range of subjects which helped me discover my passion for sciences. I have passed NCEA levels 1 and 2 with Excellence endorsements.
Apart from subjects I’ve also entered into many science-based competitions such as engineering competition and brain bee and volunteered to be in committees such as the environmental committee and interact club (a fundraising committee). Not only this but I’ve also joined South Sci stem, a community-based project, looking to help improve the health of others and the environment which links closely to my future career.
I’ve also joined sports teams such as badminton and tennis. I came runner up in the Counties school badminton team for B grade and first place in the girl's team for clash of the smash (badminton). This was one of the many highlights of my high school year as not only did I get to meet new people during these badminton tournaments but I also got to develop my leadership skills.
My plans for next year is to study Biomedical Science or Health Science at Auckland University and get the required points so that I can proceed into doing a bachelor of medical imaging for the next four years. During the time of my studies, I will also get a part-time job to help me financially. For the first year studying at Auckland University, I have chosen to stay at home and commute each day to Auckland Uni via Auckland transport.
Once again I just want to say a massive thank you for giving me this opportunity!
Selina Wong
Hi! My name is Ashley Rohloff and I'm 17 years old, I have grown up in Drury with my beautiful family.
I recently graduated from ACG Strathallan where I had been since year 9, before this I attended Drury Primary School. I always loved school, and it's because of this that I always tried to get as involved as possible - participating in all school events, joining clubs and committees and getting involved in various extracurricular activities - most of which were sports related as this is a huge area of passion in my life, this year marking my 11th year of playing netball.
I have had the great privilege of being the 2021 Head Girl at Strathallan, it was such an amazing experience and it allowed me to not only give back to the school that I love, but I learnt so much about myself and so many valuable life skills which I will definitely take forward into the future.
Next year I am studying first year Health Science at Auckland University with the hope of going on to study a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and becoming a doctor.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Rotary Papakura for the scholarship, it is a privilege to have received your support - thank you!
Thanks so much and have a great day,
Ashley
Jun Angeles, 18, Filipino, proud student prefect of Papakura High School, believes that dreams don't work unless you do. I plan to be part of the tech industry, specifically as a UX Designer, studying for a Bachelor of Creative Technologies at AUT.
Many thanks.
Kind regards,
Jun.
Many thanks.
Kind regards,
Jun.
Hi I’m Victoria (Vicky) Quinn and I just firstly want to say I am so grateful to be one of the winners of this scholarship.
I’m currently studying A2 Computer Science, A2 Economics, A2 Business and A2 English Literature (all in the Cambridge Syllabus).
I believe in giving back to others, so strive to do that in my school, family and local community…
On Monday afternoons, I tutor a Year 9 student new to Strathallan who needs help transitioning to the difficult Cambridge syllabus. I’ve also been a volunteer coach for Junior netball teams for two years in a row. Moreover, every Friday from 4-5pm (before COVID), I talked to the elderly in the dementia ward of Karaka’s Summerset Retirement Village, keeping them company by sitting with them while they have their social hours and dinner. I also have a job on Saturday and Sunday at Red Shed Palazzo which is where I’ve been working for 3 years and have more recently been responsible for training many of the new recruits on how to operate the till, take orders and interact with customers.
Additionally, in school this year I’ve been an Events Prefect so am in a team of four who plan and execute all the main school events, e.g. Bake Sales/Sausage Sizzles, Talent Quest, Family Fun Night, Easter Egg Hunt, Valentine's Day ($1,962.41 raised for NZ Heart Foundation). Besides that, I’ve been the 40hr Famine Committee Chairperson where we raised over $4100 for Sub-Saharan Africa to provide COVID immunisations, food and financial support to those most vulnerable (beating our school goal by $600) and I personally completed 40 hours without food. Likewise, for two years in a row, I’ve been the Vice-Chairperson for the Pink Breakfast Committee (where all proceeds raised go to Breast Cancer Foundation NZ). Finally, this year I achieved my Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award and was selected to write an extract for the school’s newsletter about my experiences. This involves 26 hours (one per week) of community service, learning a new skill, physical activity and a three-day tramp.
In terms of awards, I was part of a team of four from my school who entered New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition (NZSSCC) hosted by AUT Business and personally got ‘Best Speaker’ and our team came second in our stream of six other schools. Also, at last year’s end-of-year assembly, I received the only Pride in Achievement Award for my year group (praising hard work and citizenship) and also came 1st for AS Business Studies and 2nd for AS Computer Science for my internal academic results.
My plans for next year are to study a Bachelor of Commerce, double majoring in Information Systems and Marketing at the University of Auckland. Hopefully while I’m still in my degree, during holidays, I’ll intern to build some experience in the field. Then, after I finish my degree, I want to join a big company (maybe where I did my internship) with growth opportunities. Long term, the goal is to create my own business in the IT sector.
Hi! I'm Kate Logan and I'm lucky enough to have been awarded one of the Rotary Scholarships this year. Before anything else, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to the Papakura Rotary Club for this scholarship.
I've lived in Papakura my whole life, with my parents and my younger brother, and our lives have revolved around swimming and water polo for as long as I can remember. I've been swimming competitively for the Manurewa Swimming Club since I was 6 years old, and playing water polo for the Mountfort Park Water Polo Club since I was 8. I've also played for school, as well as coached and refereed for school teams, year 5-8 leagues, and social league. My grandma was a swimming instructor and coach for over 50 years, and because of her I currently work as an instructor at Swimsation Papakura.
I attended Drury School from year 0-8, and was a member of the environmental club there from years 5-8 and helped out as a road patrol, first aid, wet day, and worm farm monitor, as well as a notice reader and a house leader in my final year of school. I also managed to gain Dux at Drury School in 2016. I was part of the Future Problem Solving team there from year 5, and in year 7 my team won the National Finals, going to the USA in year 8 to attend the International Finals, where we placed 7th out of 52 teams in our category. When I came to Rosehill in 2017, I continued with Future Problem Solving as well as participating in other academic competitions such as Mathex, EPro8, etc. as well as sports teams like swimming and water polo, and various committees such as our Interact Club and Environment Committee. I've continued with all these activities and clubs, and this year I had the honour of being one of our Head Students. This has been the most rewarding role I've been in and I loved every second of it, seeing how the school runs behind the scenes and being able to communicate between the school and the students.
As well as all my other commitments, though, I still take pride in my schoolwork. I've received scholar awards every year through school, and I achieved NCEA Level 1 and Level 2 with Excellence endorsements, achieving either Merit or Excellence course endorsements in every subject I've taken in the last 3 years. This year, I take Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, English, and Spanish, and I'm on track to gain Excellence endorsements in Biology, Chemistry, and Spanish, and Merit endorsements in Calculus and English.
Next year I will be attending the University of Waikato and studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology and minoring in Biochemistry. My ultimate goal is to become a microbiologist, as I'd love to work on creating and testing vaccines and medicines (one of the few positives of the pandemic for me was finding out about this job!).
Thank you so much again,
Kate :)