Recently graduated South Otago High School pupil Ryan Williams learnt on Saturday he had secured a place to study environmental science at US Ivy League university Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire.
A standout all-rounder — and an Otago Daily Times Class Act recipient this year — the cheerful, quietly spoken 17-year-old began his journey abroad with a trip to London in July.
"I attended the International Youth Science Forum, which was an opportunity to meet Nobel Prize winners, share your research with others and visit top universities like Oxford and Cambridge.
"It was pretty inspiring, so I started looking into opportunities at US universities, and eventually settled on Dartmouth."
Dartmouth College, ranked 18th in the US in the latest standings, has grown to establish a reputation as a leading research institute since its foundation in 1769.
Ryan said that, in part, it was his self-driven research on the effects of different types of filtering marsh and bog on
water quality in a local farm’s streams that had helped secure his place at Dartmouth.
"I’ve been taking water samples from various locations for four years now, so I have quite a data set, and have been able to draw some interesting conclusions.
"Denser, unmanaged bog slows down water and allows plants to take up chemicals you don’t want entering the waterways, and that can sometimes be as simple as dense, overgrown grasses."
He said he had been helped in securing a scholarship place at Dartmouth by Auckland admissions consultancy Crimson Education.
"Crimson helped simplify the application process, and I was accepted by my first choice. It’s still sinking in at this stage."
He expected life in his new home to bear a few similarities to his southern rural upbringing.
"Hanover, where Dartmouth is located, is about 12,000 people, rural and has snow and skifields in winter.
"I enjoy skiing and tramping, so I’m looking forward to getting out and exploring in between study."
He would be leaving his mother, father, younger sister and a bevy of pets behind when he crossed the Pacific in July to begin his new journey of discovery.
"Everyone here’s excited, and proud, and maybe a little sad.
"But I can’t wait to start meeting everyone at college and settle in."
