Top pupils reflect on college - November 2015
The 2015 school year has been a busy one for Wanganui High School with regional and national achievements in sports and science, as well as a stunning production of the musical Annie.
The school choir travelled to Sydney for an international competition, school band Contraband won the Smokefree Rockquest and other Wanganui High School students won prizes.
As well as those achievements, the school has raised funds for local charities and made a big splash on a cold, wet day in June when they dressed as super heroes and completed an obstacle course to raise funds for Hospice.
As the biggest high school in the region, Wanganui High School has 20 head students representing their peers in academia, sport, culture, social, Maori, Pasifika, international and social concerns.
The Chronicle would like to wish all the young leaders well with their exams and their futures including head girl Pratibha Singh who has already left Wanganui to study overseas. We asked 2015 Dux Amaan Merchant (also head of academia), Proxime Accessit Elia Nicolin, head boy Rhaz Solomon and deputy head students Renee Butler and Seth Scrimshaw to answer a few questions about their school days and future plans.
What will you remember as the highlights of your high school days?
Dux 2015
The highlights of my high school years have undoubtedly been the friends I have met and the memories we have made. So much has happened over the last five years, leaving me with plenty of memories that are made sweeter by the people whom I have shared them with. -- Amaan Merchant
My highlights during my high school years are the Winter Tournament Weeks. -- Elia Nicolin
My main highlight has been the many oriented endeavours WHS has achieved. I performed in Guys and Dolls in year 9, Crazy for You in Year 11 and finally Annie in Year 13. It is forums such as this where you get to maximise your ability to make friends and have the opportunity to undergo a challenge you usually don't encounter in everyday life. -- Rhaz Solomon
My highlights during my high school years definitely was the sports trips I got to go on but my number one trip was being able to play College Netball on live TV and be the curtain raiser to an ANZ Championship. Another highlight of my high school years was the friendships I made. WHS is such a large school and it allows you to meet so many people with the same interests as yourself. -- Renee Butler
There have been so many amazing moments throughout my time at WHS that it is hard to choose one that stands above the rest. While it is hard to top performing at the Sydney Opera House in terms of sheer scale, the highlight of my time at school has been the relationships I have made and the people I have had the pleasure of spending my time with. -- Seth Scrimshaw
What are your plans for 2016?
I intend to study a conjoint BCom/BSc up at University of Auckland, majoring in economics, finance and applied mathematics. -- Amaan Merchant
Study at the University of Auckland, BE(Hons)/BA Conjoint. -- Elia Nicolin
Right now, the plan is to study at Victoria University of Wellington. I'll be studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Majoring in Software Engineering. -- Rhaz Solomon
Next year I am attending Waikato University to do a Bachelor of Management, Double majoring in Marketing and Sport and Leisure studies. -- Renee Butler
In 2016 I plan to study Law, Sociology and Japanese at Victoria University in Wellington. -- Seth Scrimshaw
What would you say to a 2016 year 9 student?
Go into high school with an open mind. It will be like nothing you have experienced before and you will be flooded with opportunities to do things that you didn't even know existed. Above all, don't be afraid to make mistakes. It sounds clichéd, but that's how to find out who we are. -- Amaan Merchant
Make an effort early and things will be much easier in future. -- Elia Nicolin
School is unquestionably important, so take it seriously, but at the same time don't devote all of your energies and emotion into it. You don't have to be the best at everything and there is no expectation for you to be. Be happy for your friends when they succeed, don't be jealous. Don't lose sight of what's important because you value your academic life too highly. -- Rhaz Solomon
Give everything a go. Make sure you take every opportunity given to you and also go out and look for activities that interest you, whether it is sporting, art, music, technology or community work. High school is the time to find out who you really are and what you enjoy most. -- Renee Butler
Take every opportunity that comes your way; there are many paths to follow at Wanganui High School. Seth Scrimshaw
Anything else?
Our roles in life fluctuate continually. When we leave Year 6 we feel like the top-dog, King of the World, only to reach intermediate where we are the babies again. This constant undulation of our perceived importance is never ending. I am leaving Wanganui High School from my position as Head Boy to realising I am no more than a thin thread in the great woven tapestry of humanity. -- Rhaz Solomon
Make the most of your high school years because time goes by very quickly. -- Renee Butler
