Georgia Copeman by Isla Huffadine

Meet the Prefects

Georgia Copeman - Sacristan

2015 was an eventful year. The All Blacks won their 3rd Rugby World Cup, Novak Djokovic won his 10th Grand Slam, Adele’s ‘Hello’ was inescapable and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born. At the same time, I was posing underneath the St Hilda’s archway as my parents snapped the obligatory first day pics. To say I was drowning in my uniform is an understatement, but fortunately enough I soon grew into it! I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about St Hilda’s before coming here. The only thing I really knew was that the shop assistant at Arthur Barnetts said that I was “born to wear blue” and that was all I needed to hear. You can imagine my surprise in Year 7 when our class all figured out that she said that to everyone!

Over the past 7 years, St Hilda’s has provided me with many sporting opportunities. I’ve been able to continue my love for tennis, representing the school in numerous tournaments and summer quads. St Hilda’s has also been the place where discovered my love for volleyball, a sport which I’ve been fortunate enough to captain. I’ve also dabbled in a few other sports such as badminton, netball, and cricket (some more seriously than others!)

Something else that St Hilda’s has encouraged me to follow is my passion for languages. In my time here, I’ve had the incredible experience of learning Latin, Thai, Te Reo Māori, French, Spanish, and even a little bit of Catalan! Out of all of these languages, Spanish has been my main passion, and my teachers have always done everything they can to support me in this. Whether it’s been attempts at organising trips to Spain/Chile (thanks Covid for ruining those xx), offering other examination and learning opportunities, or even allowing me to have my own one on one Spanish classes.

The emphasis on service at St Hilda’s is huge, and through this, I’ve had the chance to join many clubs that focus on serving others. These experiences have helped me become the person I am today. Some of these service opportunities include, representing my year group on the Student Council, giving back to the junior school on the Year 10 Leadership Committee, supporting girls through the Peer Tutor and Peer Mentor programmes, sitting on the 2020 and 2021 Formal Committees and in 2020 I was fortunate to be the Vice-President of the St Hilda’s Z-Club, giving back to the wider women's community of Dunedin.

I feel extremely privileged to have been selected for prefecture this year, and to be given a role that allows me to give back to the community that has played such a key role in my life. In my role as Sacristan, I am so very grateful to be able to work alongside Kyoka Summerhayes, who has become one of my closest friends and somehow puts up with all my crazy Sacristan’s Chapel ideas! As someone who enjoys public speaking, this role has been everything I could have ever dreamed of, and I’ve found it so interesting seeing how much work happens behind the scenes to prepare every chapel. While the workload is pretty large, thanks to the amazing support of Kyoka and Dr Townsley, I am absolutely loving every minute of it. One things for sure, I’ll always be able to sing Lead me Lord and recite the school prayer off by heart.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe how wonderful my time at St Hilda’s has been. We are all so lucky to be apart of a school with such a strong sisterhood. It’s clear that every teacher here has a real passion for the subjects they teach and that is such a valuable thing.

To answer the dreaded “what are your plans for next year?” question, my answer seems to be changing every day. But as for now, I plan to stay in Dunedin and study a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Communication Studies whilst minoring in Spanish and French, alongside a Bachelor of Law. This will hopefully lead on to a career in international affairs, either working for the United Nations, or in my dream job as the New Zealand Ambassador to Spain!