Hamish McKelvie
The Boy Who Rules The School...
Hamish McKelvie is a devoted and hard-working young man who has dedicated most of his time here at HBHS towards service and helping others. His tall posture and well presented uniform covered in badges, along with his calm and composed voice, gives you the impression of confidence and authority. Hamish has taken his opportunities with pride, which has now led him to become the 2023 Head Prefect of HBHS, an achievement which he could only have dreamt of as a budding year nine student.
Growing up, Hamish moved around a lot. He was born in Auckland, moved to Tauranga and Hamilton, then to the UK and is now back living in Hamilton. Hamish’s close family includes his sister, his dog and his parents, and to an extent, he credits them to his success saying, “my family is very supportive, I'm very fortunate.” He speaks very highly of them by talking about how his parents have never forced him into anything and have only been encouraging throughout his life.
Academically, Hamish is a very bright student. He has achieved the high recognition of Academic Honours and been driven and devoted towards his school work. “I want to get Excellence in Level One, Two and Three,” says Hamish. “I’ve got Excellence for Level One and Two endorsed.” Getting an Excellence endorsement in NCEA is one of the greatest academic achievements a student can hope for. This shows his resilience as a person to set high goals and still have the ability to achieve them. Hamish is also planning to study Law and Spanish at Auckland University. He explains why by saying, “Law is quite a useful degree,” and “I’ve got extended family in Spain, I want to travel there, I want to keep up the language.” Hamish is hoping to be able to speak fluently to his Spanish family, and studying this language at university will help him do so.
As well as being Head Prefect, Hamish also does many co-curricular activities such as cricket, football, playing the saxophone and mountain biking. In his rare, but precious, spare time, he enjoys listening to music, reading and watching movies. In addition to balancing his activities, Hamish is also the president of the Leo Club and has amassed a total of 200 service hours over his four years at HBHS. In his words, “I’m quite hard working, I usually try to put my best effort into everything I do”. This shows the dedication which he has towards helping others and how well-rounded he is as a human being.
Hamish is a very hard worker who, throughout his life, has set very high goals which he expects himself to meet. In his words, “I always have these standards for myself, and If I don’t meet them then I’m really unhappy.” Hamish likes the satisfaction which he gets from helping people, which is why one of his possible career paths is to work for a non-profit organisation and give back to the community, something which he has done so much of already.
“Sapiens fortunam fingit sibi.” A wise man carves his own fortune. This is the Hamilton Boys’ High School motto, and since Hamish came to this school back in 2019, he has carved himself into a very strong and resilient man and has given his all to the HBHS community. As a Head Prefect whose top priority is, “to be a positive role model to other people and guide them in the right direction,” he is certainly doing this by displaying his leadership, and will continue to do this while time goes on, as he turns himself into an extremely admirable and courageous young man.