‘‘If you don't give everything a go, you're not getting the most out of life.''
Normally, Luke (17) feels at home on the sports fields as captain of the school's First XV rugby or First XI cricket teams.
But recently, he starred in the lead role of this year's Stage Challenge and ended up stealing the show.
‘‘It was my first time doing anything like that - possibly my greatest challenge. I saw it as my last opportunity to give it a go because it's my last year at school. School is a tremendous source of opportunity and I wanted to make the most of it.''
Luke also involves himself with crosscountry running and was part of a sixman team that won a bronze medal in the New Zealand secondary schools road race in 2007.
While Luke sets ‘‘the bar'' high in sporting pursuits, he sets it even higher in the classroom.
He was a top scholar in year 11 and 12, and won the Kings High School Bremner Scholarship for academic excellence last year.
He also won special awards in the school's prizegiving for chemistry, biology and English, and excellence awards in physics, mathematics and French.
A passion for languages has seen him achieve distinction awards in the Australasian French Competition (2007 and 2008); study in Bourges, France for six weeks last year; and become a finalist in the RSA Speech Competition (2008).
Luke hopes his ‘‘head down'' approach to study will pay dividends when he studies health sciences at the University of Otago next year.
He plans to study medicine eventually, while advancing his skills in rugby.
Achievements: Head boy (2009); Otago under 16 rugby (2008); Otago Country under 16 rugby (2007); Dunedin Metro cricket under 15 (2006); Year 12 Bremner Scholarship for academic excellence(2008); NCEA level 1 endorsed with excellence (2007), and level 2 endorsed with merit.
Role model: ‘‘I admire competitive people who will go to great lengths to be the best-like Sir Edmund Hillary.''
Hopes for the future: To study medicine at the University of Otago and progress my rugby career.