2010 Dux Reports Back From Otago

The attraction of studying in a University-focused city was the deciding factor in Hamilton Boys' High School 2010 Dux Vidit Singh's decision to head to Dunedin.  The $5,000 University of Otago Dux Scholarship recipient says "Dunedin is a great place to experience student life.  It's almost as if the whole place has been geared up for students."

Vidit was accepted into Otago's sought-after Health Sciences First Year course.  "I wanted to study Medicine and I thought Otago had a relaxed atmosphere, but at the same time a high level of education."  The health Sciences course is a prerequisite for entry to the Otago Medical School and several other disciplines Otago offers, such as Dentistry, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy. Vidit says that he appreciated the way the course's different papers in Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Human Body Systems integrate to make everything about the human body 'fit into place.'

"Doing NCEA as well as Cambridge exams at HBHS has given me a big advantage here.  It seems that a lot of what we are learning this year is an expansion on the Cambridge syllabus.  I think my school got the combination just right.  It has taken a lot of pressure off this year."

Vidit is living in Carrington College, one of 13 residential colleges on or nearby the Otago campus that primarily cater to first-year students.  "There's a lot of down-to-earth peop0le at Carrington who know how to have fun but still maintain their grades.  The general atmosphere is probably the thing that I enjoy most, and that's the result of the people.  Carrington's food is apparently in a league of its own, which is always important!"

As with most of the residential colleges, Carrington offers tutorials extra to those provided by the University departments.  "Our tutors are really helpful in explaining things that may have been skimmed over in lectures and in clarifying difficult concepts.  It saves us a lot of time."

"Dunedin is a nice place to be," Vidit concludes, "interesting architecture, nice people, good education - not much more you can ask for."

Vidit's University of Otago Dux Scholarship assists with the costs of tuition fees or residention fees for the first year of study.