Year 12 student Charlotte James wins Crimson Education's Te Ara a Kupe Beaton Award.

I grew up on a diet of Sci-Fi and wanted to be an astronaut from an early age. We still know so little about Space; it really is the last frontier and the thought of discovering new life and places excites me.

I’ve always been curious and determined, and now I’m determined to be the first kiwi woman in space. With the Crimson Education's Te Ara a Kupe Beaton scholarship I’m on my way. It means I’ll get personalised mentoring and education to help me study physics at the California Institute of Technology in 2021.

I love science and my science teachers have supported my dream. They’ve always taken it seriously. Next year I’m going to Space Camp with the school, but for now they are challenging and inspiring me to achieve academically, to push my learning and knowledge frontiers.

I was home-schooled and chose Hagley as a high school as it gave me the best of both worlds; the freedom to follow my dreams and the structure and support to reach them - to achieve academically on a national scale. Hagley lets me be what I want, to learn what I want. It allows me to be myself.

Read more about Charlotte and the scholarship in the article as featured in Stuff.