By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK
Hogan Yeung may be a top scholar, but there is more to his life than swot.
His big ambition this summer is to buy an $8000 red sports car and take it on a trip with his mates. He has earned it.
The 18-year-old Auckland Grammar School student has
won the top prize in the Educational and Scholarship Trust exams, run each year to challenge bright students.
Competing against 1655 candidates from 179 secondary schools, Hogan scored between 80 per cent and 93 per cent in physics, accounting, maths with calculus, maths with statistics and chemistry examinations.
Cheerful and quietly spoken, he said he was "stoked" to win an NZEST national scholarship, as the prize money would increase his sports car savings fund by $1500.
He had not expected to top the examination results, because he was worried by the "trickiness" of the physics and accounting papers.
"I'm not the dux of my school either, so I wasn't expecting to become top. I was like 'no way' when I found out."
Next year Hogan hopes to study medicine at Auckland University or to study business in Singapore on a scholarship.
The trust, which is financed by grants from businesses, will give $85,250 to 91 students this year.
The 24 winners of national scholarships, with the highest scores in the examinations, will receive $1500 each.
Forty-eight scholarship winners and 19 students with top marks in subject categories will receive $500 each.
Hogan may be the trust's top scholar, but he will have to share some of the limelight with fellow Auckland Grammar students. Seventeen from the school won scholarships, accounting for 22 per cent of all awarded. The top five national scholarships were won by students from the school.
Headmaster John Morris attributed the students' success to family support, good teaching, motivation and the school's encouragement of excellence.
"They're not nerdy kids either," he said. "They're all multitalented and active in a range of areas."
Havelock North High School produced the top girl student, Rosalind Phillips, who was fifth equal overall.
Full list of scholarship winners
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By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK
Hogan Yeung may be a top scholar, but there is more to his life than swot.
His big ambition this summer is to buy an $8000 red sports car and take it on a trip with his mates. He has earned it.
The 18-year-old Auckland Grammar School student has
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