Whanganui High School head girl heads to Japan for study
Whanganui High School head girl Jackie Hazelhurst is heading to Japan in August to attend International School of Asia Karuizawa in Japan.
PHOTO: Stuart Munro.
Jackie Hazelhurst's passion for her community has helped her to a United World College (UWC) Scholarship.
The Whanganui High School head girl is one of four New Zealanders off to gain admission to a UWC school this year and has been placed at the International School of Asia Karuizawa in Japan.
"It's a little town of 20,000, so it's smaller than Whanganui. The community's quite tight-knit so it'll be nice to get involved," Jackie said.
UWC is a network of 17 international schools aimed at making education a "force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future".
Jackie leaves in August and will be spend the two years in Karuizawa studying towards an International Baccalaureate Diploma.
"I've heard a lot of really good things about Japan. It sounds completely different to anything I've experienced but great at the same time."
The scholarship is aimed at students who have contributed to and shown leadership within their community.
"Firstly it's academic but they want to pick balanced people so they look at all your achievements in different fields and your contribution to the community," Jackie said.
The 17-year old is involved in a number of community activities including the Whanganui District Council's youth committee and volunteers at the Whanganui Regional Museum.
Jackie said opportunities started to open when you get involved in the community.
"It's not a chore, it's always something I feel passionate about," she said.
"Things like volunteering at the museum, we've got this really amazing museum with the largest moa bone collection in the world.
"I really want to share what we have with other people."
She encouraged people to find something in their community they were passionate about and get involved.
"Don't force yourself to do something your aren't passionate about because then you won't do a good job. Try to find something you love and then it just grows naturally from there and find people who will do it with you and inspire you."
In Japan Jackie will be doing six subjects and is expected to take on extra-curricular activities and volunteering. "I'll probably do sciences and then English. It will be pretty full on."
She had planned to study environmental law at university next year until this opportunity came up.
"It's completely different than anything I anticipated," she said.
"But doing this first will be really good for meeting people and developing as a person and a lot of people get into United States universities and get scholarships after doing this."
By Zaryd Wilson
Wanganui Chronicle 19/4/17