St Hilda’s Collegiate year 13 pupils Zara Geddes, 18, and Maddie Cockburn, 18, will be heading to the US to attend Harvard College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, respectively, late next year.
The pair were high achievers academically and in their sport codes.
Zara, who was St Hilda’s dux and an Otago Daily Times Class Act recipient this year, represented New Zealand in running and is among 3% of applicants to gain a place at Harvard.
"It’s pretty cool," she said.
"I’m really grateful to have this opportunity and it will be really different to anything I’ve experienced in New Zealand but I’m really excited for it."
She did not consider going overseas until the end of last year and said she knew her chances of getting in were higher as a student athlete joining Harvard’s track and field team.
"It will be quite a challenge balancing the athletics with the academics.
"I think I’m up for the challenge and I’m really looking forward to it.
"They’ve got quite a big setup over there for the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] system, so I’m excited for the opportunity to be in that environment and to travel with the team."
Zara plans to study computer science and life sciences and will head over in September.
"I didn’t think it was going to happen but then it did and it kind of sunk in — going away from my family and rowing for four years seriously will be crazy," she said.
"It’s really exciting and life changing."
She had originally trained as a triathlete but switched codes to rowing in year 11.
"I started rowing when I went to St Hilda’s and I never stopped.
"I loved it and I realised there is more resources for rowing than triathalon, so that became the main idea and I worked really hard to get a scholarship."
Maddie had been waking up at about 5am every day for three weeks talking to about 15 different universities in the United States trying to recruit her.
In the end, she received four scholarship offers and chose Amherst because she liked the coach and heard the food was the best in the country.
She would study either architecture or biomedical sciences and will move in August.
She is training to compete in the South Island Coast to Coast race held in February.
