Cam Fraser
The 18-year-old debating enthusiast and budding politician has proven he can win over a crowd.
He first stepped up to the podium in year 9 and quickly fell in love with the art of persuasion.
He has made many friends through the sport and found it a good way to challenge his beliefs while engaging with current events.
Before each debate he and his team have 30 minutes to prepare, which forces him to think on his feet and be critical of the topic in an effective manner.
Cam likes to speak third, which allows him the most time and opportunity to break down his opponent’s argument.
It forced him to think on his feet and although it could be stressful, it was always fun, he said.
Although he had strong political views, he almost always preferred to argue against his own beliefs.
Having to fight for ideals he did not believe in helped him expand his perspective and understand why people thought that way.
Although he enjoyed exploring realistic topics, he preferred to indulge the more hypothetical debating topics.
His team came out on top at the Otago Regional Schools debating competition, where they debated whether or not happier people should be taxed more. He had to argue for the happiness tax, a chaotic idea he did not believe was a great one in real life, but it was fun to argue nonetheless.
Debating was also a way for him to engage in politics, an area of great interest to him.
This year he spent time as youth MP for Taieri, working with MP Ingrid Leary to learn the ropes and represent young people politically.
It was a great honour to be able to share the youth perspective and he planned to continue his career in social areas.
He liked studying humanities and the way people reacted to current events.
Achievements: Chess and debating team captain (2022); Otago regional debating winner (2022); King’s chess cup (2021); top scholar (2020, 2021); academic blue (2021, 2022); prefect (2022), youth MP for Taieri (2022); scholarship history, english, statistics (2021); NCEA Level 1, 2, 3 excellence (2020, 2021).
Role model: Jacinda Ardern, as she embodied what it meant to be a strong leader who remained kind and compassionate.
Hopes for the future: To study law/politics at the University of Otago.
Orlando Tuhega-Vaitupu
Now he is head boy of King’s High School and co-captain of the first XV, but things were not always so easy for him.
Regardless, the 17-year-old always remained proud of who he was.
He inherited his love of rugby from his parents. His mother played for Pirates Wahine and the Otago Spirit, the women’s representative team, while his father represented New Zealand in touch.
It did not matter if it was touch or rugby, he loved them both.
With his parents as coaches and a little bit of talent, he found success on the pitch, but it did not last forever.
There was a period when he struggled and was not qualifying for any teams, but he pushed through by training hard and finding his love for the sport again.
He attributes his success to those failures.
Now he has made the NZ U18 men’s touch team and the NZ U18 Maori men’s rugby trial team.
He also played for the Otago under 17 Maori Tane team, which was a different side of the sport he had not experienced previously.
There was no feeling like performing a haka before the match with a group of passionate fellow Maori boys.
"It’s really cool. It just felt like I was part of something."
He takes great pride in his background, with a Maori, Samoan and Niuean mother and a Samoan father.
He applies that pride to his role as head boy and makes sure to be a good role model for young Maori and Pasifika pupils at his school.
Being head boy involves "a lot more background work" than he expected, such as delegating jobs and doing administration.
There is a lot of pressure, but he takes it in stride and leaned on others when he needed help.
Getting to head boy was not just luck.
When Orlando sat down for the school open day in year 8, he was inspired by the speech the head boy made. He got to work with his parents and made a plan for how he could reach those heights.
When he did, he delivered his first speech to the school in both Maori and Samoan. It felt great to be able to fulfil such an important role, while still being able to represent his background proudly.
Achievements: NZ U18 touch (2021, 2022); Otago touch U18 most promising player (2021); First XV rugby co-captain (2021, 2022); King’s touch leadership team (2022); 2nd National Secondary Schools Touch Tournament (2021); 1st South Island Touch Championships (2018, 2019); Otago U17 Tane rugby team (2020); Otago secondary school volleyball champs (2021, 2022); Toloa STEAM secondary school scholarship (2022); academic blue (2021); TOA academic scholarship (2021); Mana Pounamu Teina (2020); Level 1, 2 excellence endorsement (2020, 2021); PE top student (2020, 2021); head boy (2022).
Role model: His parents, for inspiring and disciplining him.
Hopes for the future: To study health sciences at the University of Otago and become a general practitioner.
