Thomas Hartono
Thomas, a student from Wakatipu High School who has an enthusiastic passion for maths and science has been selected to attend the Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology at the University of Queensland.
My name is Thomas Hartono and I am currently a Year 13 student attending Wakatipu High School (WHS) based in Queenstown. I am currently studying biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, history and completing maths through a university paper from the University of Canterbury.
I am honoured to be one of the 6 students selected to attend Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology (FEAST) at the University of Queensland, Gatton Campus in Brisbane this year. Throughout this residential programme, I will be joined by other students from Australia and New Zealand to experience life at the university. This will include staying at the Halls of Residence, participating in social and sporting events and of course experiencing the most important aspect of all, the academic side of things! We will be exploring science disciplines through hands-on activities and laboratory workshops at the University campus with a specific focus on agriculture and veterinary science.
From the very beginning of my school life, I take pleasure in helping others and therefore I try to immerse myself in as many voluntary/charitable organisations and opportunities as possible. This has led me to take up several leadership roles at my school in where I am currently the Deputy Head Boy of WHS, a 40 Hour Famine Leader, an Enviro Group leader and the Chair of the Community and Service Council. In addition to this, I like to keep active and I have an interest in tennis. This year will be my 13th year of playing tennis at a competitive level. It has given me a lot of opportunities to broaden my network that has helped me become who I am today, these opportunities include representing New Zealand, the Southern Region and my school at Nationals and the Otago and Southern Lake regions.
I have an enthusiastic passion for maths and science and am always searching for opportunities to extend my knowledge and understanding in these areas. Science, especially biology and chemistry have always been on the upper end of the spectrum for me because the most important questions to me have always been the ‘how’ and ‘why’, and I believe that science has helped me to satisfy this aspect of my personality. I am hoping to pursue this interest in science further at a tertiary level. I am hopeful that FEAST will help me to understand the application of science in the real world around us in ways that I have never thought of and inspire me to pursue my interest in science even more