Kari Croucher
So the East Otago High School deputy head girl is giving herself a small taste of life outside school before making any life-changing decisions about which career to pursue.
The 17-year-old’s greatest challenge at the moment is deciding whether to study for a career in nutrition or veterinary science.
She said she would like to work with farm animals, but she would also like to help people have healthier lifestyles by eating better.
"I’m not leaning one way or the other at the moment. I’m still stuck in the middle."
To help make the difficult decision, she has spent time getting work experience at a local vet clinic to see if it would tip the scales one way or the other.
Having NCEA level 1 with excellence, level 2 with merit, and school prizes for overall excellence over the past six years, she can easily do either.
"It will be a big relief when I make the decision."
Her career choices come from a love of farm animals and sharing the benefits of having a fit and healthy lifestyle.
At school, she has been the school’s swimming champion since 2016 and has broken the school’s swimming records every year for the past six years.
As well as being the school’s swimmingcoach, she has been a Schoolwide Positive Behaviour for Learning representative, a peer support leader and a peer mentor, gently steering fellow pupils to more enjoyable, productive and healthy lifestyles.
While making a career choice has been trying, she says a comforting factor is that time is on her side.
She can spend a year studying one, and if it was not what she wanted, she could change degrees the following year.
"Nothing is set in stone."
Achievements: Deputy head girl (2022); peer support leader (2022); peer mentor (2020-2022); school swimming record breaker (2016-2021); school swimming coach (2020-2022); house captain (2021); sports captain (2022); student council rep (2016-2018, 2021); NCEA level 1 with excellence (2020), level 2 with merit (2021); school prize for overall excellence (2016-2021); junior and senior swimming champion (2016-2021); academic excellence by a Maori student (2020/2021); academic achievement in year 11 and 12 (2020/2021); Schoolwide Positive Behaviour for Learning rep (2021); Anzac Day student rep (2022).
Role model: My granddad, Bob.
Hopes for the future: To study nutrition at the University of Otago or veterinary science at Massey University.
Rylie Keach
The 17-year-old has spent years as a netball coach, junior mentor and kapa haka tutor, despite having to give up both of the passions herself.
She first started kapa haka in 2016 as a way to better connect with her Maori heritage and found she enjoyed the environment.
Members of her family also do kapa haka and she is proud to be able to share the art with them.
Although she could no longer take kapa haka due to a timetable clash, she still teaches the art to primary school pupils, which she began last year.
After shows parents would come up to her and express how much fun their children were having and how proud they were.
Her role as a teacher does not stop there.
Since 2020 she has acted as a netball coach, teaching the year 7 and 8 pupils of the school the skills she used when she played netball.
She started the sport when she was about 5 and played until recently when her friends left and it no longer felt right to play.
"I enjoy being able to pass on what I’ve learnt."
In 2020 she became a peer mentor, where she would spend time with individual new pupils at the school and help them settle in.
She enjoys getting to know the pupils and likes helping make their school experience a little easier.
This year that responsibility has increased seven-fold, with her now in charge of settling in a group of seven pupils.
It was difficult at the start as none of the pupils knew each other, but with time they grew close and now she was proud to have good relationships across the year levels at school.
She likes the mixture of responsibility and authority that leadership positions give her and enjoys being a student representative for the board of trustees and for the student council, which gives her a voice in what happens at school.
Her desire to help people is why she wants to become a nurse.
Achievements: Head student (2022); year 7/8 netball coaching (2020-22); peer support leader (2022); peer mentoring (2020-21); Maori prefect (2021); house captain (2021); board of trustees student representative (2021-22); student council representative (2019-22); SWPB4L representative (2022); primary school kapa haka tutor (2021-22); Anzac day student representative (2022); kapa haka (2016-17, 2021); senior netball division champions (2018); St John’s youth (2017-19); year 9/10 volleyball coach (2021); fortnightly excellence semester 1 and 2 (2021); citizenship award (2021); global youth ambassador project to China (2019); level 1 merit (2020).
Role model: Her brother, who has seen success despite all the trials along the way.
Hopes for the future: To studying nursing at Otago Polytechnic.
