Young Achiever of the Week: Md Shadman Jahin of Tauranga Boys

Young Achiever of the Week: Tauranga Boys' College student Md Shadman Jahin. Photo/George Novak

Md Shadman Jahin enjoys all of his school subjects, but he is "more of a science and maths kind of guy".

That was evident after the Tauranga Boys College student achieved three NCEA scholarships in his 2017 end-of-year exams.

"I didn't expect to get three scholarships," Jahin said.

The 17-year-old had nine exams to prepare for last year - four Level 3 exams, two Level 2 exams and three scholarship exams.

Jahin was part of the school's accelerated programme which enabled him to be learning a year-level ahead and helped him prepare for the scholarship exams.

"Last year I was Year 12 learning Year 13 work," he said. "I knew my stuff pretty well. A lot of it was studying before exams."

Jahin liked to study in the centre of the house so he could feel sociable with his family.

"But we had to eat on the ground because the dining room table was full with my books," he joked.

He also enjoyed studying with friends because the more he helped them, the more it helped him remember the answers.

Sometimes, Jahin would share his study tips with his younger brother who was in Year 9.

"Sometimes he would ask me to teach him Year 13 calculus which is like five years above his age," he said. "I think he likes it."

But Jahin said it was tough to balance study with his social life and extra-curricular activities.

He was playing cricket in Term 4 before exams when study time was crucial and was playing games five to six hours long on top of training each week.

"I would sometimes bring my books to the game and while I was waiting to bat I would read something," Jahin said.

But he did allow himself some downtime once he got home from school and cricket to eat something before getting stuck back into his studies.

This year, Jahin aims to study and pass four scholarship exams with one outstanding result to receive a $5000 scholarship.

"I didn't think I could do it last year, so all I can do this year is do my best."

Jahin's achievements:
- Hale and Associates Prize for First in Level 2 Biology
- Trustpower prize for First in Level 3 Chemistry
- Westpac Award for First in Level 3 Physics
- Higgins Contractors Award for First in Level 3 Mathematics with Calculus
- Tauranga Boys College Old Boys Association Prize for First in Level 3 Mathematics with Statistics
- Michael Hoy Cup
- Holland Beckett Law Prize for First Aggregate in the Accelerate Year 12 programme