Whangārei Boys’ High School student with autism wins First Foundation scholarship — On The Up

Year 13 student Oliver Ball has been awarded a $28,000 First Foundation scholarship. Photo / Brodie Stone

A Northland teen with autism wasn’t sure if university was in his future - now he will be the first in his family to attend.

Whangārei Boys’ High School student Oliver Ball hopes his story will inspire others, particularly the neurodivergent community.

The 17-year-old plans to study criminology and sociology at the University of Waikato next year after receiving a $28,000 First Foundation scholarship.

“I just feel like when I was younger, I never really thought of myself getting too far,” Ball said.

He couldn’t read until Year 5 and struggled with socialising, while also grappling with a short fuse.

“I remember in Year 10, I was failing like all my classes, but in Year 11 when I found out that you can get scholarships from school, I started to concentrate on school a lot more, and I started to get a lot better grades.”

Ball originally planned to do a cooking course, but his interest shifted when he began studying psychology and science at school.

“I’ve always been interested in doing experiments and stuff like that, but I’ve never enjoyed being in a lab looking at chemicals, ‘Oh look the number changed’ and I feel like running experiments and doing research on minds would be a lot more interesting.”

He was inspired by his Year 11 biology teacher.

Year 13 Whangārei Boys' High School student Oliver Ball will be heading to university next year. Photo / Brodie Stone

“I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to go to uni at that point, but I was kind of pushing towards it, but talking to him about it really sold it to me, and I decided I definitely did want to go to uni.”

Ball began looking at scholarships and courses to apply for last year.

Having missed the cut off for science papers, he chose sociology and criminology. With help from his teachers and dean, he completed the application.

Ball was “pretty excited” when he heard he’d been chosen as a First Foundation recipient, he said.

“I find like if you just apply yourself more ... you can just do a lot more.”

Ball was most excited about the mentorship, which is part of the scholarship. Recipients are paired with a mentor through their studies.

He was one of two students chosen as recipients this year. The other was Whangārei Boys’ High School’s Kayden Moselen, also in Year 13.

Moselen will also be the first in his family to attend university.

First Foundation chief executive Kirk Sargent said the aim was to connect youngsters to opportunities and bridge any gaps.

“One of the biggest determinants of educational success is still poverty.”

More than 80% of their scholars were the first in their family to attend university, he said.

L’Oreal NZ sponsors the scholarship.

Country lead Daina Wilson said they wished Oliver “all the best” with his academic endeavours and looked forward to celebrating his progress.

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.