St Paul’s student heading to Stanford
A young Waikato woman is about to join a select group of students to study in the heart of Northern California’s Silicon Valley.
Hamilton’s Kate Littlejohn will be among just 4 per cent of applicants who each year are accepted to Stanford University, one of the top three universities in the world.
Littlejohn, who recently finished at St Paul’s Collegiate School, has been offered a fouryear athletic scholarship.
She will be expected to train between eight to 20 hours per week as a collegiate athlete and compete in rowing regattas across the US.
Littlejohn acknowledged it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
‘‘I still don’t think it has hit me yet, but it feels incredible and quite surreal that I am was able to secure a scholarship like this. It’s definitely not something I thought possible at all,’’ she said.
‘‘Stanford is such a diverse university in terms of the students that attend there, so I am excited to meet amazing people in a beautiful part of the world that are driven to achieve their goals.’’
Her successful application was a result of her rowing talents and her academic strengths. She had to score in the 85th percentile or above in the SAT entrance exam and maintain a high level of NCEA grades.
During her time at St Paul’s, Kate competed nationally and internationally in rowing.
She was part of the New Zealand coxless women’s four crew which competed in the 2017 World Rowing Junior Championships.
She was also selected or the New Zealand Secondary Schools Netball Squad in 2017.
As part of her application, Kate was interviewed by a Stanford alumni and required to write several essays on a range of topics.
Stanford was very focused on service and leadership and Kate’s experience with the St Paul’s Over-the-Fence service programme, as well as her contributions to the community, were key.
‘‘I found that the colleges are not necessarily looking for a total all-round person,’’ said Littlejohn.
‘‘They want someone who has a passion or excellence in an area and are then able to use those skills to benefit others.
‘‘For me, that was rowing and being able to use my sporting background to give back to younger athletes.
‘‘The service opportunities that are available at St Paul’s are a massive advantage when writing college applications.
‘‘Being able to say that you were involved with a programme like Over the Fence or the hospital chaplaincy visits, really shows your values and who you are as a person.’’
Stanford University, south of San Francisco, is in the heart of Northern California’s Silicon Valley, is home to tech giants Yahoo, Google, YouTube and many other companies that were started by Stanford alumni and faculty.
While she has visited the US a couple of times, it wasn’t somewhere Littlejohn thought she would end up going to study.
‘‘Following our 2017 Maadi Cup regatta, I was contacted by some colleges and that made me realise that maybe studying overseas was an option for me.
‘‘From there I started at looking for colleges that I would be interested in. I knew that I would only go to the US if it was to a university that had a strong rowing programme combined with a focus on academics and a good culture.’’
Kate sets off for the US in midSeptember.