The 16-year-old King's High School pupil has been selected to attend the prestigious Prof Harry Messel International Science School in Sydney, after another New Zealand secondary school pupil had to pull out at the last minute.
''I feel sorry for whoever had to pull out, because this is such a great opportunity.
''I'm excited, but also nervous, because I only got the call this week - less than a week's notice before I'm supposed to be leaving.
''It's been incredibly hectic in the last few days trying to sort out travel.''
Sam leaves tomorrow and is one of five New Zealand secondary school science pupils selected by the Royal Society of New Zealand to attend the 14-day school.
They will be among about 145 of the world's top science pupils from Australia, China, Japan, India, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
The theme of this year's school is ''Big - big experiments, big discoveries, big ideas''.
During the school, pupils will be able to attend lectures by astronauts and renowned scientists from the Cern Hadron Collider Laboratory in Geneva and the radio telescope arrays in the United States.
There would also be hands-on scientific workshops and an active social programme.
Sam said he was most looking forward to listening to the people talking about astronomy, particle physics and theoretical physics.
''There will be people there that lead all these amazing, huge philosophical projects that look into why we are here and how we came to be.''
The school is run by the Physics Foundation at the University of Sydney, and the New Zealand participants' trip is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
