Cambridge calls Otago student

Will Coleman (18)is preparing for study at Cambridge University after winning the 2011 Sir...
Will Coleman (18)is preparing for study at Cambridge University after winning the 2011 Sir Douglas Myers scholarship. Photo by Jane Dawber.
When it came down to choosing whether to continue his medical degree at the University of Otago or take up a $100,000-per-year scholarship to study languages at Cambridge University in England, the choice was easy for Will Coleman.

"In becoming a student a Cambridge, you make yourself a part of a history that extends back 800 years and includes some of the greatest minds this world has seen.

"I believe this history pushes the students at Cambridge to strive to greater heights."

Will has been awarded the prestigious Sir Douglas Myers Scholarship for 2011.

Worth $100,000 a year for four years, the scholarship will enable him to attend Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge where he will take the Modern and Mediaeval Languages Tripos, studying French and Spanish along with politics and history.

The former King's College (Auckland) head prefect gained the highest mark in the world for French language and was top in New Zealand for history in the 2009 Cambridge International AS Level examinations.

Last year he was the top all-round male pupil at King's.

Will won a scholarship for fully-paid study in Auckland, but turned it down to take up a Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship to study at the University of Otago in the first semester.

"I turned down the Auckland scholarship because there's not really that university culture there that Otago has. The culture is very important to me."

Will has been studying French, Spanish, philosophy and health science papers at Otago, but is excited about starting at Cambridge in October this year.

His ambition to become a doctor, like both his parents, has not been quashed. Rather, it has been put on hold for now and he hopes to return to continue the degree at a later date.

"That's the great thing about doing an MML. It gives a nice broad background to other degrees such as law and medicine - anything really.

"I want to keep my languages up, and I'd like to be a doctor without borders. Maybe one day I'll end up as a member of the World Health Organisation."

Will said his trip to Cambridge would be filled with a mix of excitement and a high level of pressure:
"It's daunting, but exciting at the same time. It's quite a competitive environment that I'm going into, and for $100,000 a year, there's a lot of expectation and pressure to do well."

Between now and September, Will said he would be making the most of university life at Otago, and doing papers "just for fun - stuff that I'm interested in".

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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