A Rotorua local has been offered the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship to study Bachelor of Law at the University of Waikato.
Year 13 student, Grace Namana boards at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton and was offered the scholarship, with 50 other students who were chosen from 290 applicants from across New Zealand.
The scholarship will cover the full cost of Miss Namana’s tuition for an undergraduate degree in law in which she will also major in te reo Maori. After the four-year course, she hopes to graduate as a commercial lawyer.
As part of the scholarship, Miss Namana had also been offered professional training and a free gym membership to improve her agility, endurance and strategic thinking while playing netball. This offer of a prestigious scholarship follows from Miss Namana’s secondary school netball success in which she was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools and Aotearoa Maori netball teams earlier this year.
St Paul’s Collegiate School principal, Grant Lander, said she was a talented young woman whose sporting and academic achievements reflected her ability and drive to succeed.
‘‘Balancing the demands of both a rigorous academic programme and a full co-curricular programme, in which she represents national secondary school sports teams, takes some doing but Grace has shown that she can succeed in both areas.’’
Miss Namana said she would continue her netball career next year as a member of premier netball team, First Credit Union Verdettes. ‘‘I have had a few offers for teams for next year but I want to stick with the Verdettes who have been very supportive of my netball goals.’’
Joining her at the University of Waikato is fellow school student, Paul Newton-Jackson, who has also been offered a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship. Mr Newton-Jackson will study a conjoint degree of engineering and music.
