Raglan local and St Paul’s Collegiate School day student, Jessica Reilly, has been offered a $50k scholarship to study at the University of Auckland for 2014.
Miss Reilly is one of 120 students who were offered a $50k scholarship, from 1300 applicants, which includes tuition for the first three years of an undergraduate degree plus $5k for accommodation and two return airfares per year.
The University of Auckland scholarships are offered to students who display exceptional levels of academic excellence, all-round ability and leadership. St Paul’s Collegiate School’s Headmaster, Mr Grant Lander, says that Jessica is self-disciplined and has always been able to manage her considerable responsibilities of head girl while maintaining exemplary academic success.
“Jessica is an earnest student who sets very high academic goals for herself and strives determinedly to achieve them,” Mr Lander explained. “She is an exceptional scholar, who achieved NCEA Level 2 endorsed with Excellence and was placed the top grade-point-average for a year 12 student at St Paul’s Collegiate School in 2012.”
Miss Reilly gained NCEA Level 2 endorsed with Excellence by achieving 113 excellence grades of her total 134 credits. This achievement sits well above the national average; the participation level needed to achieve NCEA Level 2 is 60 credits. She also achieved a 100 per cent GPA in English, chemistry and physical education.
In 2011, as a year 11 student, Miss Reilly completed five Cambridge IGCSE subjects and in three of these subjects gained 90 per cent and above in her results. She also impressively gained NCEA Level One endorsed with Excellence.
Mr Lander explained that Miss Reilly is on track to gain her NCEA Level 3 endorsed with Excellence and will most likely gain real success in her three Scholarship Examination subjects of biology, chemistry and English.
“Jessica’s results in both her NCEA Level 3 and Scholarship Examinations will be an amazing, but not a surprising, achievement given her extensive leadership and co-curricular responsibilities within the School,” Mr Lander said.
“Her maturity, intrinsic motivation and time management skills are some of the best that I have seen. She has an exceptional work ethic and this, combined with her natural academic ability, would make her one of the country’s most talented all-round young women.”
Jessica has also made a significant contribution to Raglan and the wider community through volunteer work. She is head instructor of Surf Lifesaving Club Raglan, volunteering her spare time to training lifeguards and increasing the number of active lifeguards on watch at Raglan Beach. Her volunteer work with Surf Lifesaving Club Raglan has been invaluable and will continue even after she takes on a busy workload at the University of Auckland next year.
