Meet the Prefects

I grew up on a farm in Waitahuna and attended Waitahuna Primary and Lawrence Area School. I came to St Hilda’s in year 9 where I cried myself to sleep most nights for the first term. The city life was a shock to me when I first arrived, I had to come to the realization that you can’t step out the door and into a paddock. There was no more riding my motorbike after school or going out on the farm to shift the sheep with Dad. After school changed into constant trips to the dairy, into town, or to the movies. After over a year of homesickness I picked myself up, my winter kilt no longer touched the ground and I began to enjoy and appreciate my time at St Hilda’s.

During my time at St Hilda’s I have had many sporting opportunities, including touch, tennis, netball, and even curling. Sport for me was a way to get out and keep active while having fun with my friends. I didn’t take anything to a competitive level but then I found my hidden curling talent. A group of us began curling in Year 10 and I haven’t looked back. We came away with a silver medal at U21 Nationals and had so many laughs along the way. Playing and coaching sports has given me the opportunity to develop friendships with many girls across the year groups and meet new people from across New Zealand.

Being a Tolcarne girl has helped shape me into who I am today. Being surrounded by the positive, inclusive staff who always willingly offer advice and wise words has been very beneficial to me. My 31 sisters have also always had my back which made the transition from home to Tolcarne much easier. They have continued to support me over the 5 years and between us we have developed a strong sisterhood. Tolcarne has provided me with many opportunities that have allowed me to strengthen my confidence, public speaking skills and forge lifelong bonds and connections.

As Head Boarder, I have been striving to continually develop relationships with all the girls at Tolcarne. Ensuring I developed a bond with each and every one of the new Year 9’s was something that was very important to me heading into this role. I feel very privileged to fulfill the role of the “Big Sister” to the girls at Tolcarne. I was also lucky enough to attend the Head Boarder Conference in Christchurch in Term 1. This gave me many ideas and strategies to improve the skills needed for my role as Head Boarder. I am enjoying the opportunity to give back to the school and hostel community.

Life after St Hildas for me is still unknown. I am currently looking into options to further my education at both university and polytechnic. However, for the remainder of the year, I am looking forward to working alongside the driven and hardworking prefect team and Tolcarne staff and am excited to see what else we can achieve together.