Outstanding Papamoa student wins scholarship to Cambridge

Felicity Whale, the Dux at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton last year, has been awarded the prestigious Sir Douglas Myers scholarship to study at Cambridge University in England.

There, eighteen-year-old “Fizzi” from Papamoa, will study Natural Sciences.  Currently she is studying Biomedical Science at the University of Auckland, and will transfer to Cambridge in September this year.

John Taylor, Convenor of the selection committee, describes Fizzi as an outstanding all-rounder. “We are delighted to offer this scholarship to Fizzi.  She is accomplished across the Humanities, Sciences and Mathematical Sciences.  In addition, she is also a very talented musician and sportsperson, who also finds time to contribute to her community.”

While in Year 12, Fizzi passed Scholarship in Earth & Space Science, Physical Education, Spanish, and English (Outstanding), and in Year 13 she repeated Earth & Space Science and Spanish, and also passed in Statistics, Classical Studies, and Biology. She was placed 10th in the world in Spanish in the Language Perfect World Championships last year, and gained an Elite award in 2015 and 2016.

Her talents include being an accomplished debater, captaining the St Paul’s team last year; a talented concert and rock drummer; and she competently plays the Paraguayan Harp, performing solo at a reception hosted by the Māori King last year.  She also won the “Crowd pleaser” award in a Mount Maunganui busking competition. Fizzi is also a talented cross-country runner, representing Waikato at the national Secondary Schools Championship, and tennis player. She is a passionate cook and her food blog, fizzifood.com, featuring low-carb, low-sugar recipes, is also popular.

In addition, Fizzi has a huge commitment to the community.  She was part of the “Over the Fence Ministry”, a St Paul’s initiative which works with low decile primary schools in the area.  She has also been involved in charity relays, and volunteered at Waikato Hospital. In addition to assisting patients attend Sunday Chapel services, she regularly visited the Neurosurgery ward where she played Paraguayan Harp for patients.

In 2015, her work was recognised when she was awarded an Altrusa Award for community service work in the Hamilton region.

Fizzi aspires to be an academic in the area of evolutionary science to instill in others a greater understanding of evolutionary biology and to be a changemaker. 

She says, “The teachers of today enliven the generations of tomorrow, and being a professor of evolutionary biology would enable me to educate students about this expanding field of science. In this way, I would aim to rectify underlying misconceptions and thus scientifically enlighten others. Further to teaching, I will explore the biological sciences through research.

“My objective is for the elementary understanding of evolutionary biology to filter through to the rest of society, promoting an interest in biological science in our young people especially. Access to   scientific knowledge is ever increasing, and I intend to further facilitate this in New Zealand.”

Sir Douglas Myers set up the scholarship 17 years ago, for academically gifted students intending to return to New Zealand to become leaders in their chosen fields.

A well-known businessman and former leader in the brewing industry, Sir Douglas graduated with a BA in History from Gonville and Caius College, at Cambridge.  He is a significant supporter of education, business, sport and the arts, and believes strongly in providing international experiences for outstanding young New Zealanders

The scholarship provides tuition and college fees and a living allowance and is worth approximately £34,000 or NZ$60,000 per annum.

Universities New Zealand administers this scholarship in addition to around 40 other undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships. 

Applications for the 2018 Sir Douglas Myers Scholarship close on 1 December.