Independence Day 2019

We had a half day of sessions geared towards helping them make decisions and move beyond school with a little more information.

Brent Wolf taught the students about how to budget for living in a flat, and what you get for your money. He might have taught some of the less financially-literate teachers a couple of things too. He had some wonderful tips about shopping around for banks that give the best deals to students and how to cut down student loans. It was wonderful for everyone to get a realistic insight into what things cost in the real world.

We were privileged to have some of our wonderful old boys come back to talk about what they are studying, or where they are working, and how they are finding things. Jakob Annison and Liam McHenry talked about studying physical education and health, Ness Scully - law and commerce, Jonathan Baker and Will Paterson - law, Quinn Campbell - psychology, Michael Ellison - surveying, Lochie Bain and Robert Sangster - studying at Lincoln, Jackson Dempster, Morgan Jones and Alex Dodson - trades, Boen Deng and Ben Hall - first year health sciences, Josh Preston and Wilson Mitchell - medicine, Max Gomez - engineering, Max Roche and Tyler Wilden - primary teaching, Gwyn Jones - design, and Sebastian Sole - computer science. It is so valuable for our students to talk to old boys who are out there doing what they are considering. We appreciate our old boys so much - giving of their time and experience.

We also had James Anderson, another old boy, speak about his experiences in a hall of residence and beyond and what he has seen of his cohort in regard to mental health and wellbeing. He emphasised the need for people to ask for help, and to help others who were not coping. While the freedom of university life can be wonderful, it can also be overwhelming.

Old boy Jack Manning, in his role as OUSA Colleges Officer, talked about the University of Otago Halls of Residence and the application process. The majority of our leavers do opt for the halls of residence option, so it was valuable for him to talk them through the process and give them some tips for making choices, and choosing referees.

The area we struggle to provide valuable speakers in, is for our students who are not considering university. If you have any ideas or recommendations, we would love to hear your thoughts! Many thanks to all the old boys who came and helped us.