Where are they now?

ALUMNAE NEWS

Hannah Rice performing in a German play called The Visit.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Five years after they graduated, we talked to these Old Girls from the Class of 2015 about what they have been up to since they left Dio, and how they are navigating the challenges of COVID-19.

HANNAH RICE

Hannah Rice was Deputy Head Prefect in 2015. In an action-packed final year at school, she gained an NZQA Scholarship in drama, got her ATCL Diploma in Performing from Trinity College, earned a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, and was involved in tennis and dragon boating. Hannah plans to study acting in Los Angeles.

“After graduating from Dio, I studied economics and cognitive science at Northwestern University in Illinois and was also involved in student film and theatre.

“The most rewarding experience during my time there was volunteering as a tutor with the Northwestern Prison Education Program at Stateville Correctional Centre, a male maximum security prison in Chicago. It gives Stateville inmates the chance to take classes with university professors who volunteer their time to teach at the prison. As part of the programme, Northwestern undergraduate and postgraduate students tutor at a study hall at the prison. It was a humbling experience to work with people from different backgrounds and help them better themselves through education. “Despite gaining a degree in economics and cognitive science, I’m pursuing a career in acting and writing. Acting has always been my passion and I want to explore this as a career while I’m young and have few responsibilities. I was admitted to the New York Film Academy with a merit-based scholarship and was due to move to Los Angeles in September 2020 to pursue postgraduate study in acting for film. Due to COVID-19, I’ve had to defer my place until January 2021. After coming home from Chicago in March, I’m enjoying being back in Auckland and spending time with friends and family.

“Dio really instilled in me the value of having a good work ethic and being creative. One thing I love about the Dio community is how you can randomly run into people from school and there is instantly a connection. It’s been lovely to catch up with friends from Dio and I was really lucky that quite a few of them came to visit me when I was in the States.”

An accomplished bassoonist, Rebecca Brimble won the Lawson Cup for Excellence and Commitment in Music. She is thrilled to have been accepted into the highly competitive course at Auckland Medical School.

“In my first year out of school I completed the first year Biomedical Science course at the University of Auckland and was then accepted into Auckland Medical School. I did two pre-clinical years in Auckland and spent the first at Auckland Hospital. This year I am at Middlemore Hospital and in 2021 I will complete my trainee intern year at Rotorua Hospital. After leaving school, I learnt how to be a barista and continued to work at a local café during my preclinical years. I’ve also kept up with music, playing bassoon in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Student Symphony Orchestra and I’ve started a new hobby of trail running.

“At school, the sciences were my favourite subjects. I always knew that whatever I ended up doing, I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives and make the world a better place. I wanted to spend most of my career working with people, and the idea of life-long learning also appealed to me. Becoming a doctor satisfied all these goals.

“2020 has definitely been a challenge. I was in Perth doing a six-week placement in obstetric medicine at King Edward Memorial Hospital when everything started taking off. In week two of my placement, the university advised all medical students currently overseas to return to New Zealand as soon as possible. I booked a flight home the next day. Two weeks later, we went into Level 4 lockdown and were all sent home from clinical placement. I was doing my psychiatry rotation at the time and had to have patient consultations on Zoom. Thankfully, my plans next year have not changed too much, although I will no longer be able to do an elective in Samoa to experience and develop my skills in Pacific health.

“Dio really instilled in me the value of service and treating others as you would like to be treated and it’s a principle that I will always live my life by. I don’t think I would have chosen medicine as a career if I didn’t have this awareness. My experience at Middlemore Hospital this year has made me see how devastating poverty is in New Zealand. I’m now motivated to help change this injustice.”

“Dio really instilled in me the value of service and treating others as you would like to be treated and it’s a principle that I will always live my life by.”

GEORGIA LALA

Allrounder Georgia Lala was named Proxime Accessit to the Dux, served on the Ethics and Human Rights Committees, was prefect for Eliza Edwards house, and coached, played and umpired netball. She won a prestigious University of Auckland scholarship and began a Bachelor of Science there before attending Duke University in North Carolina on the Robertson Leadership Scholarship. “I always thought I would study medicine, but when I arrived in the United States, I fell in love with international relations and Middle Eastern studies. I found like-minded friends in the college’s student government and mock-trial programme, and a mentor in a professor at Duke’s School for Public Policy. I worked as a research assistant for this professor for almost all my time at Duke. In my final year of college, this work extended to a chance to collaborate with the Former Chief Justice of South Africa, Dikang Moseneke, while he completed his fellowship at Duke.

“Studying abroad opened up some amazing opportunities for travel. In 2018 I studied human rights in Chile, Nepal and Jordan. I spent one summer backpacking in Europe to create a podcast on the European Refugee Crisis, and in 2019 I spent a week in Morocco studying the American and British North African campaign of World War II. Foundation, and also co-authored a paper advocating for drug policy reform in New Zealand in the lead-up to the 2020 Cannabis Referendum – the topic has sparked some interesting debates in my personal life!

“With COVID-19, I returned to New Zealand in early March after my college had to close its doors. I spent the last two months of my degree finishing my honours thesis via online learning and graduated in May with majors in political science and international comparative studies and a minor in Arabic. Since then, I’ve been working on a local election campaign in Auckland. It’s been a whole new experience and a heap of fun.

“My biggest lesson from school is always to try new things. For me, that meant taking a step away from science and into politics, governance and human rights. I’m excited about the new opportunities that might present themselves in the future.”

ALICE TILLEY

2015 Head Prefect Alice Tilley received the Eliza Edwards Memorial Award for her contribution to school activities, high personal standards and demonstration of the qualities on which Dio was founded. She was also named Best All-round Sportswoman in her final year of school – and her recent sporting achievements show how well deserved that accolade was.

“Last year I completed my final year of study at the University of Auckland, gaining First Class Honours in Science. During my time at university, I was involved in the High Performance Sports Programme, representing New Zealand in the Junior World Orienteering Championships in both Switzerland (2016) and Finland (2017). In late 2019, I also represented New Zealand at the World Orienteering Cup Championships in Guangzhou, China. It was the first time China had hosted a World Cup Orienteering event and it was exciting to be an athlete at the inaugural competition. “I studied at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, under the University of Auckland 360 Student Exchange Programme. In addition to my studies, making new friends and settling into Canadian culture and tradition, the highlight was being selected to join the Queen’s University Marching Band. After being a member of the Symphony Orchestra and Stage Band at Dio, I was thrilled to again be in a big band environment, attending rehearsals and performances for all-university sporting fixtures and playing an important part in homecoming traditions. Queen’s Bands comprise a pipe band, brass band, cheerleaders, highland dancers, drum corps, and colour guard. We perform at Queen’s football games, appear at major university ceremonies, and represent Queen’s at parades and events across Canada and the United States. It was an

HOPE WHITEHEAD

Singer, actor and filmmaker Hope Whitehead was Dio Arts Prefect in 2015. She won the Imogen Wells Award for Outstanding Performance in the Arts, and credits doing World Challenge in Year 12 with helping develop her leadership skills. She’s put them to good use while studying at Cambridge University.

“In October 2016, I left to study English literature at the University of Cambridge. I became involved in many extracurricular activities, including being a choral scholar for the Queens’ College Chapel Choir, singing roles for the Cambridge University Opera Society, and putting on my own recitals in Cambridge. I also got into student politics. In my first year, I ran for President of the JCR, the committee that represents the 500-odd undergraduate students at Queens’. I won the election and completed a second term, so I held the role for two years, learning a lot about leadership in the process.

“A highlight of my time at university was being invited to meet the Queen when she visited Queens’ College in her capacity as its patroness. I’m also proud of the work I did reviving the Queens’ College Amateur Dramatic Society. My goal was to bring back the summer Shakespeare play (a tradition that began in 1948), and I was stoked to have my sister Piper as director. We approached notable Queens’ alumni to help with the production and worked with film director Iain Softley. Stephen Fry even ran a session with our cast.

“In 2019, I graduated and moved to Los Angeles for four months, studying on exchange at the University of Southern California’s prestigious School of Cinematic Arts. “2020 was always going to be a gap year to gain work experience in between degrees. I’ve spent the year in New Zealand working across a range of industries. I did a brief stint at a healthcare recruitment company, completed an internship at publishing firm Allen & Unwin, then worked at advertising agency HeyYou doing copywriting, PR and strategy. I also volunteered for South Auckland Riding for the Disabled and sang with the choir of Holy Trinity Cathedral.

“In October I returned to the University of Cambridge to complete a master’s degree in Film and Screen Studies. I’d already begun working as Chief Media Strategist and leading a student ambassador programme based in the US for the Cambridge international student film festival, Watersprite. I was planning to move to London after finishing my MPhil, so it will be interesting to see whether that’s still an option.”

incredible experience to be part of such a long-standing and respected tradition.

“I returned home to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in geography and environmental science. During my studies, I developed a passion for GIS (geographical information science), water science and environmental management. I’ve always been interested in the value of water in our environment, how fluvial systems integrate in our society, and subsequent land and groundwater contamination. After graduation, I enrolled as a postgraduate and completed a First Class Honours degree focusing on fluvial management.

“Early this year, pre COVID-19, I began the graduate programme at Tonkin + Taylor, working as a contaminated-land consultant. My job is a mix of field and office work and I enjoy the combination of practical and theoretical work.

“In my spare time, I’ve been making the most of weekends with trail running adventures including the Pinnacles and the Tongariro Crossing.”

Hope Whitehead graduating from the University of Cambridge. This image: Annabelle Paterson (second from right) with friends at the annual Harvard versus Yale football game. Inset: While visiting Spain with her class, Annabelle ran into her Year 7 and 8 dean, Mrs Mary Guyan.

ANNABELLE PATERSON

Annabelle was a stand-out swimmer at Dio and represented New Zealand in the biennial World Junior Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games in 2015. Annabelle has continued to swim for Harvard University where she’s just begun her senior year virtually.

“In August 2017, I went to America to begin my four-year degree at Harvard University. I moved into Straus Hall, into the same room Mark Zuckerberg had in his 2004 freshman year! In my second year, I declared a concentration in the history of art and architecture – architecture design studies, with a secondary in computer science.

“I was recruited to swim for the Harvard women’s swim and dive team and we won the Ivy League championships my freshman [first] and sophomore [second] years. In my last two years I played for the Harvard women’s water polo team.

“I’ve had the most amazing time at Harvard. Highlights include travelling to Spain and journeying the Santiago de Compostela (by bus) and going to Italy for my art and architecture classes. I also went to Fuerteventura, Dublin and Hawaii for swim training trips, and to Sydney for water polo. I’m part of the Harvard Women in Business Club and involved in events and classes at the Graduate School of Design.

“One of the best things about Harvard and studying at a US liberal arts college is that you don’t have to declare your major until halfway through your second year. I’ve taken a range of classes to meet my general education requirements, which exposed me to different fields of study. These include CS50, Introduction to Computer Science, one of the largest and hardest classes at Harvard. In an engineering class called Innovation that I’m taking virtually this semester, we hear from some of the world’s most amazing innovators, including the COO of Ferrari and the creator of LEGO Friends.

“2020 has been very different to what I’d planned. In March, we were given three days to get off campus. I arrived in New Zealand and went into self-isolation two weeks before the first lockdown. I was able to finish my semester at home but had to live on Boston time with classes at 1am some days.

“I’d been offered an internship in Huntington Beach, California, where I was planning to be from June to August. I did what I could remotely and I’m now beginning my senior year virtually from New Zealand. I’m also coaching a junior squad at Parnell Swim Club and enjoying being safe at home with my family. After college I am thinking of either going to architecture graduate school or venturing into the management consulting industry.”