Genesis Energy community liason manager Michaela Latimer speaks about the company's scholarships that help support Stem education and how the scholarships have helped the recipients and their schools.
Video / Genesis Energy
When Covid struck in 2020, Jade Sceats and her parents made a decision that would change the course of her life.
The Kerikeri student switched from in-person learning to online.
“At the local school, I didn’t feel like I was pushed enough. The teachers have so many studentsand it’s a big school and there are only so many resources they have, it’s hard for them to push us.”
While studying outside a traditional classroom was lonely at first, Sceats said she quickly began connecting and socialising online with her fellow classmates at the Crimson Global Academy.
“I also kept in touch with friends in my local community, and while it was difficult at first since I wasn’t around them as much, I put more effort into my friendships.”
Jade believes her attendance at the online school broke down barriers when she came to apply for tertiary education overseas.
“I was able to take the A Level curriculum and because it’s so internationally recognised I definitely think that helped. I had a lot more flexibility with my course choices so I was able to take more subjects and accelerate them a bit. So I think that made me a bit more competitive.”
Kerikeri student Jade Sceats, 17, made the switch to online schooling through Crimson Global Academy and has no regrets.
Four years on, Sceats is getting ready to start studying electrical and computer engineering at one of the top US colleges in August this year.
“I actually got accepted into a whole slate of schools, so I was kind of debating between Georgia Tech, which is a well-known school for computer science and then Columbia and Princeton. But I think as I’ve been doing more research I’m starting to lean towards Princeton.”
For others hoping to follow in her footsteps, Sceats recommends working towards it earlier rather than later.
“Definitely start young ... I started taking steps toward studying overseas when I was in year 10 and I think if I’d known and if I’d been able to manage I would have maybe tried even younger.”
However, she also warned against hyper-fixating on getting into universities.
“Especially in the last couple of years as I was applying I realised it’s so competitive. If I’m hinging everything I do on trying to get into university, I think I’m going to be disappointed.”
Instead, she focused on pursuing things she was interested in, which made the journey more sustainable and fulfilling.
She said her tuition at Princeton will cost around US$60,000 (NZ$100,000), and the school’s website notes the total cost of attendance including housing and food is US$86,700 (NZ$145,000).
Princeton also offers financial aid according to need, which Sceats said she is waiting to hear back about, but she told the Herald her family has also “made arrangements”.
Sceats’s Princeton spot is one of 240 Ivy League offers provided to NZ-founded Crimson Education students this year.
The education technology company said it is helping get more than twice as many students into the world’s top Universities than its next global rival, InGenius Prep.
David McGregor Grey, an 18-year-old fellow Crimson student, is also heading to an Ivy League college in August.
He received offers from seven other top-10 US universities as well.
The ACG Strathallan 2023 Dux said he got there through good grades, following his passions and extending his academic interest beyond the classroom.
“Probably over two years ago now I was looking at what I wanted to do, what I wanted to study and I was quite unsure and I stumbled upon learning about these prestigious top schools and I thought I might just be able to do it and I’m very grateful that that’s come true.”
David McGregor Grey.
At Harvard, where Grey has a faculty scholarship covering most of this year’s US$82,866 (NZ$138,170) fee, he plans to study physics and take classes in quantum, particle and nuclear physics.
“It just really feels like a golden ticket and I really want to make the most of the opportunity. I’m excited to arrive on campus, see the dorms, live in the dorms, eat in the dining hall and then most of all probably meet so many new incredible people.”
He encourages other young people to “dream big” and have confidence in themselves, because “good things happen when you work hard and take your opportunities”.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that helped me along the way, especially my teachers and my friends, the support from my friends, and the support of my school, as well as my family.
“It was a long hard journey but it was definitely worth it in the end.”
