Pearl Harris-Blain
The 18-year-old acts as the treasurer for the school council, a sports and academic prefect and a wellbeing ambassador, as well as the deputy head girl.
"My philosophy is to get involved in everything you can."
As treasurer for the school council, she spends a lot of time organising fundraisers, as well as meeting weekly with other members to discuss issues and ensure things at the school are running smoothly.
As cultural and academic prefect she spends a lot of time laying the ground work for school functions, such as the recently established Academic Olympics.
The event encourages pupils to come outside their comfort zones and take part in competitions like spelling bees and quizzes.
As a school wellbeing ambassador she works to encourage socialisation, mediate disputes and improve the general health of pupils.
Through taking on so much responsibility this year, she is learning her limits, as well as when and what to prioritise.
"It’s a juggling act."
Outside of school she can be found cycling competitively, playing water polo, netball and basketball.
While she is a naturally competitive person, she dedicates that energy to cycling and focuses on just having fun with her friends with her participation in other sports.
Her dedication to cycling has seen her take away a bronze and silver medal at this year’s Track National Championships as well as first place in the Wanaka Challenge secondary schools triathlon.
She is learning to take a back seat and let herself breathe and never forgets to have fun while on the track or fulfilling her responsibilities.
Achievements: Deputy head girl (2022); prepared speech finalist (2021); Prepared Speech 2nd (2022); Wanaka Challenge triathlon 1st U19 women team (2021); SISS Triathlon 1st U19 Women Team (2022); 40 Hour Famine leader (2022); Junior form class leader (2022); student council (2022); academic blue (2021, 2022); Academic Olympics committee (2022); senior B netball (2021, 2022); senior girls ace basketball (2022); water polo (2022); Track National Championships U19 sprints bronze, Keirin silver (2022); Level 1, 2 excellence endorsement (2020, 2021).
Role model: Her parents, for always trying to do right by people while having fun along the way.
Hopes for the future: To study health sciences at university to pursue a career in public health, physiotherapy or practice medicine.
William Cresswell
The 18-year-old always enjoys learning new things and pushing himself, an attitude which has seen him reach national success in gymnastics.
He started the sport when he was 9 and quickly found himself enjoying it.
He enjoys going to competitions and tries to master the floor, pommel horse, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar and the rings, which are his favourite.
Each of the different apparatus provide a different skill to perfect with a different set of muscles to hone.
Although training requires a lot of repetition, having six different apparatus to work on means he can change up what he is focusing on and never get bored.
As it is an individual sport, he is able to focus solely on his own improvement.
This year he came first overall nationally in his skill level, along with first in the rings, floor, parallel bars and second in the pommel horse.
There is always a higher level of perfection to strive for in gymnastics and even though he is seeing national success he does not plan to stop striving to improve.
His passion for improvement also extends to his studies, with maths being his favourite subject.
Maths comes naturally to him and he always finds solving equations interesting.
He enjoys the definitive nature of the subject, as the correct answer is not up for interpretation.
It is why he also enjoys physics, economics and chemistry.
He puts a lot of effort into his academics and plans to study mathematics at the University of Otago next year.
As a way of sharing his interests he helped organise the Academic Olympics at school this year, where studious pupils competed in general knowledge, maths and science quizzes along with a spelling bee.
He helped write the questions and was proud of the end result.
It was the first time the event had been held at Taieri College and he hopes it will continue as a tradition.
Achievements: Academic prefect (2022); junior class leader (2022); Academic Olympics committee (2022); gymnastics nationals overall 1st, rings 1st, floor, 1st, parallel bars 1st, pommel horse 2nd (2022), rings 1st, overall 10th (2021); Level 1, Level 2 excellence endorsement.
Role model: Gymnast Carlos Yulo.
Hopes for the future: To study mathematics at the University of Otago.
