Billie Allan
BELIEVING every person has a different road to success is what makes Billie Allan determined to find it.
The 17yearold’s passion for aerobics and her desire to help people have helped form who she is today.
She first started aerobics in year 10, but found herself struggling with it.
‘‘It was a lot of hard work. It was not natural to me.’’
Despite that, she never thought twice about if it was right for her.
Instead, she knuckled down.
In 2020, she took the sport to a new level during the lockdown and started finding her own methods to improve through the internet.
‘‘I watched so many different tutorials.’’
She found herself making a lot more progress and became intrigued about how different methods could work for different people.
Now she coaches athletes from primary to secondary level and uses that wisdom to experiment with their routines and develop methods which work best for her students.
One of her strongest interests was in people and she liked helping them discover more about themselves and their own potential, she said.
It was one of the reasons she wanted to study both sport science and psychology.
Her progress took a lot of hard work, but it paid off as she was awarded national titles, including an international third place for her duo last year.
She also spent her time working to better the world around her.
One way to do that was through her school Interact group, which was dedicated to service.
The group worked on at least three service projects a year: one for the school, one for the local community and one internationally.
They included bake sales for Haiti, the Relay for Life, random acts of kindness and volunteering at local charities.
As deputy head girl, she enjoyed the connections she got to make with both junior pupils and school staff.
It was a unique position which allowed her to help out more at the school, which she appreciated.
Achievements: Deputy head girl (2022); Zonta women in science prize (2021); Queen’s young scholar award (2020, 2021); academic blue (2020, 2021); 1st in biology, calculus, chemistry, physics, PE (2021); year 12 speech cup (2021); aerobics blue (2021); QHS senior aerobics champion (2021); NZCAF aerobics nationals 1st senior open novice individual, senior secondary team (2021); artistic excellence trophy (2021); FISAF international online aerobics championships 3rd duo (2021); Interact president (2022); school council (201822); UoO Young Women in Leadership Programme (2021). Role model: Her head girl Mereana Martin, her teachers and her coaches. Hopes for the future: Double major in sport science and psychology at the University of Otago.