Sci-fi and strings spell success

Sarah Thompson, 18, watches episodes of 'Stargate' dubbed in German. Picture / Richard Robinson

The gentle lull of classical string music, plenty of water and sleep, and the occasional Stargate episode are the secret to good grades, says top student Sarah Thompson.

The 18-year-old was yesterday named overall top scholar in last year's scholarship examinations, in which she sat English, German and history as a student of Pakuranga College.

"I try to study in an engaging way," she said. This included watching episodes of Stargate dubbed in German.

Sarah received "Outstanding" in all three subjects, and was the top student in both English and German.

She was thrilled with her results: "I'm still stunned about it. I feel really lucky."

It wasn't all to do with luck, though.

In the week leading up to the exams, Sarah used most of her free time to study, sacrificing "a good Dan Brown thriller", among other things.

She gained exemplary marks in level three NCEA, including a grade average of 100 in German, indicating a standard of "Excellence" for every assessment throughout the year.

Her lowest grade average over five subjects was 88 for English.

For her efforts, Sarah will receive $45,000 over three years towards academic study.

"I've been really lucky," said Sarah, who also won an academic scholarship to Auckland University last year worth four years of undergraduate tuition fees and an annual allowance of $2500.

She was joint dux of Pakuranga College last year, and is now in her first year of a double degree, majoring in chemistry, ancient history and German.

Sarah said the scholarship money would go towards post-graduate study, "hopefully overseas".

She has mixed feelings about last year's exam controversy after hundreds of top students missed out on scholarships.

"I think it's become a bit of a political football. Parts of NCEA are good, and others need work," she said.

"But it's not irredeemably awful, as opposition to it would have you think."

There were a total of 32 top scholars, including the best student in each subject as well as four students who achieved an "Outstanding" in all of their subjects.

Each of the top students will be honoured at a ceremony at Government House in Wellington tomorrow.