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National

Te Rarawa student eyes prestigious universities

J'adore Harris-Tavita (Te Rarawa) is one of only five recipients of the Te Ara a Kupe Beaton Scholarship, receiving $20,000 in funding to attend the university she wants to go to.

“The likes of Harvard and Oxford, and even Stanford are the kind of schools that I will be hoping to attend,” Harris-Tavita says.

The scholarship was founded in 2017 and is designed to support Māori students with expert guidance and resources that enable them to reach their academic endeavours.

“When you have someone like Samuel Taylor who received the scholarship a few years ago and has gone off to attend Harvard, that would honestly be the biggest dream for anyone,” she says.

Born and bred in East Tāmaki, the 17-year-old is no stranger to receiving scholarships, as it was through one that she attended St Kentigern Girls School, before ending up at St Kentigern College, of which she is currently the head girl.

Her advice for success to rangatahi across the motu is to “find your why.”

“Write a list of all the things that you are involved in, and then write down next to them why you actually do them.”