Amberly Orr
Amberly Orr
Life is like aerobic exercise. The harder it is, the stronger you become.
It is a philosophy that has helped Queen’s High School head girl Amberly Orr master difficult aerobics routines and work through pain to win several gold medals in the Otago Schools Aerobics Championships over the past three years, as well as bronze, silver and gold medals in the New Zealand Schools Aerobics Championships.
The 17-year-old says the philosophy is also true for daily life.
It can get pretty complicated and busy at times, especially when aerobics, school work and commitments outside of school all start building up.
She finds those situations force her to be more organised and diligent with her use of time.
‘‘It makes you better. You come out of it stronger.’’
Amberly has been competing in aerobics for the past seven years, but the complex, high-intensity movement patterns took a toll on her knees three years ago.
The injury threatened her continued success in the sport.
‘‘It set me back a little bit. My mindset at the time was, I’m just going to ignore it and keep going — which probably wasn’t the healthiest idea.’’
Fortunately, she went to a physiotherapist and her knees came right again.
She says it was a great ‘‘learning’’ moment.
‘‘It’s taught me to take a little more care of my body.
‘‘It’s probably also a part of the reason why I want to get into physio.’’
Next year she plans to study health sciences in the hope of going on to study physiotherapy at the University of Otago.
Achievements: Head girl (2021); NCEA level 1 with excellence (2019), level 2 with merit (2020); Queen’s Young Scholar Award(2019, 2020); academic Blue (2019); school awards for overall academic excellence (2017, 2018); gold medal Otago Schools Aerobics Championships senior open individual (2020); bronze medal NZ Schools Aerobics Championships senior open individual (2020); gold Otago Schools Aerobics Championships open individual (2019); silver NZ Schools Aerobics Championships senior open (2019), silver senior teams (2019); gold Otago Schools Aerobics Championships fitness team (2017, 2018); gold NZ Schools Aerobics Championships fitness team (2017, 2018); bronze Otago Schools Aerobics Championships junior open individual (2018), silver (2017); aerobics Blues (2018-20); school aerobics award (2019, 2020); school team of the year award (aerobics) (2020); American Jazz Dance intermediate exam (2020); service to interact award (2020); peer support leader (2021); year 9 camp leader (2021); Interact Club (2017-21), co-president (2020); Ethics Olympiad (2021); aerobics coach (2018-21); World Vision youth conference (2020); school council (2020); house leader (2020); futsal (2017-20).
Role model: My mum.
Hopes for the future: To study health sciences and then physiotherapy at the University of Otago.
Daisy Kitto-Thomas
Daisy Kitto-Thomas
For Daisy Kitto-Thomas, looking at ‘‘the big picture’’ is so important.
The 17-year-old Queen’s High School deputy head girl says people tend to focus on one of their tiny deficiencies, instead of all of their qualities.
‘‘If someone comes to me with a problem, I try to look at the big picture.
‘‘I help them figure out how it’s affecting them, then I show them all their strengths and help them come up with strategies that will make their situation better.’’
Her humanitarian and award-winning oratory skills come to the fore in many facets of her life, but have had a major impact in her role as one of the leaders of the school’s He Waka Kotuia kapa haka group.
‘‘With kapa haka, we spend so much time practising together, so it’s really important to have a close relationship with one another and at the same time, it helps you understand different people and learn how to work together so we can all be our best selves.’’
The approach has helped the group go from strength to strength. They won the Otago regional kapa haka Hautonga in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
The group has also been selected to compete in the 2018 and 2020 National Kapa Haka Competitions.
When it comes to academia, Daisy is also looking at the big picture.
She says it is important to set a mixture of short-term and long-term goals if you want to succeed.
It has helped her achieve NCEA level 1 and 2 with excellence and Queen’s High School young scholar awards for the past two years.
Next year, she plans to study psychology at the University of Otago, with the aim of becoming a clinical psychologist.
‘‘I’ve become so interested in understanding why I am the way that I am, and why other people are the way that they are.
‘‘Along with that comes a desire to help other people with various issues, and understanding the impact that that has on them, and finding ways that they can be helped.’’
Achievements: Deputy head girl (2021); NCEA level 1 and 2 with excellence; Queen’s Young Scholar Award (2019, 2020); academic Blue (2019, 2020); 1st in history and chemistry (2020); overall academic excellence awards (2017-19); He Waka Kotuia (2017-21), leader (2020, 2021), winner of regional kapa haka Hautonga (2017, 2019, 2021), National Kapa Haka Competitions (2018), selected to attend (2020); year 9, 10, 11 and 12 speech winner (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020); Kapa Haka Blue (2019, 2020); Outward Bound scholarship (2020); Deep Thought marine science programme (2019); Interact Club (2017-21); peer support leader (2021); peer tutor (2019); year 9 camp leader (2021); Ethics Olympiad (2021); school production (2021); World Vision youth conference (2019, 2020); board of trustees student rep (2020); school council (2018-20); house leader (2020); futsal (2020); Enviro Group (2019); netball (2017-19).
Role model: My mum and my sister.
Hopes for the future: To study psychology at the University of Otago.
