Te Arawa high achiever wins academic scholarship

Fri Apr 07 2017 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Te Arawa high achiever wins academic scholarship

07 April 2017

Last year’s Head Boy of Western Heights High School, Kuratea Broughton, has received a prestigious Māori Academic Excellence Scholarship to attend the University of Auckland.

Kuratea has started a Biomedical Science degree and has received $20,000 toward his tuition and/or accommodation fees. He was also guaranteed a place in the sought-after University Hall student residence, where he is now living.

Only 25 Māori Academic Excellence scholarships are awarded nationally each year to New Zealand Māori students who demonstrate excellent academic achievement and active participation in community, cultural and other activities.

As well as excelling academically, Kuratea is a national volleyball representative and has played for New Zealand’s under 17 and under 18 grades, captained the North Island volleyball team, and played for the 2015 national secondary school volleyball championship winning team.

Kuratea hopes to be accepted to the School of Medicine in his second year to fulfil an aspiration to become a doctor and improve Māori health in the Te Arawa region.

“Receiving this scholarship is a huge honour,” Kuratea says. “It will take a huge stress off not only myself, but also my single mother. I come from a family of hard workers and people who have shown me the work ethic I need to reach my fullest potential.”