Humble Kiwi off to Princeton
Hauraki Plains teen hopes others will be encouraged by his Ivy League venture
It didn’t take long in life for Jared Sewell’s big brain to get noticed. At 4, he was reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books — penned for 9- to 14-year-olds — to his preschool pals. His mum, Tracey Hopkins, said the preschool warned her son’s primary school of his extraordinary academic abilities, which have earned her and John Sewell’s only child a $550,000 scholarship to US Ivy League university Princeton.
By the end of primary school in Year 8, Sewell had his NCEA Level 1, adding NCEA Level 3 with excellence while at Hauraki Plains College near Thames two years later, Hopkins said.
“He could’ve gone to high school three years early but I didn’t want him to . . . [because] I thought education’s not everything. It’s important for him to be happy and have his friends.”
They also considered applying for scholarships to private schools, but her son didn’t want to board.
“I suppose in other schools they do International Baccalaureate or whatever. But he taught himself from Year 11, skipped Year 12 and was doing university papers in Year 13 . . . and it all worked out.”
Just after his 17th birthday, Sewell left school and spent five months hiking the 2900km Te Araroa Trail.
It was while walking the length of the country that he decided to chase his American dream, leading to his “full ride” Princeton offer and a $480,000 scholarship offer for Yale.
“I still think [walking Te Araroa] is my greatest accomplishment,” he said. “It made me realise that so much is possible. It gave me the time to learn about myself and to think about what I wanted from the next few years, which is what led me to apply. Also, completing the trail led me to plan this Europe trip that I am currently on. I met so many people from all over the world on the trail and realised there was so much more to see. It’s been great to visit trail friends in their home countries over the last few months.”
Sewell, now 18, said he planned to study electrical and computer engineering at Princeton.
Full scholarships were a must, with his parents unable to pay for an Ivy League education. They had also decided against using college prep business Crimson Education because of the $15,000 cost, Hopkins said.
“He wouldn’t have been going if he didn’t get the scholarship. We explained that to him . . . [and] we’re so proud of him.”
Sewell said he chose Princeton because it has a strong engineering school and offered a larger scholarship, which covers course fees, housing and food for his planned four-year bachelor’s degree.
“I’d always thought about these universities as an option, but it was always just a dream. It wasn’t until I was walking Te Araroa that I really decided that I would apply.
“The application process was long. When I started the process back in May last year
I had no idea which universities to even apply to or what was required for the applications.”
He took a SAT university admission test in August, the only available test date before his applications were due. “So I had one chance at scoring well. I had to learn and study all the test material online by myself . . . [and] generally you would start studying much earlier.”
Most time-consuming were the essays — five to nine per university, and another for all applications.
Next came interviews, with a few in November and December and then at least one a week in January, each requiring lots of preparation, he said.
The happy news came on March 28 while Sewell was at the home of his host couple’s grandparents in Norway’s Vesteralen Islands. “I’d actually just seen the Northern Lights about 11pm that day, so I was already excited. [And] I was just so relieved that all the work I put into my applications paid off.” Among the first people he told was his former Hauraki Plains College principal, Ngaire Harris, who was also his maths teacher when he joined the Year 12 class while a Year 9 student.
“I’m absolutely delighted for him because he deserves it,” said Harris.
“But it’s more than that – he will just make the most of it . . . he’s adventurous in a very diverse way. He just wants to live his best life in a whole lot of different ways.” It wasn’t just Sewell’s academic ability that impressed her, said Harris, who retired in 2022. It was also his attitude. “He was so humble, he just got on with his work.”
At Hauraki Plains he could be himself and, with family support, pursue his own interests, she said. “I think he was really respected by the students for just being who he was, and for what he could achieve.” Sewell said he wanted an Ivy League university education because of the resources available, including the ability to learn from people worldwide and some of the best professors globally. “Any current Princeton student I’ve talked to has said that if you want to do something, the university will provide the resources to support you.”
That included a chance to study for a semester or year at no extra cost at overseas universities such as ETH Zurich in Switzerland, “so that is an opportunity I’d like to take up as well.”
He’d likely stay in the US “at least a few years” after graduation, with a goal to eventually create a start-up, but his fast-evolving field of study also meant the future was uncertain.
“There are going to be new technologies produced in the next four years, so it’s hard to say what opportunities might be available then.”
He hoped others would be encouraged by his success, encouraging them to “always go beyond what’s required” and show initiative where they could.
“These highly prestigious universities really value these things.
“They want to see you as a whole person, with a story to tell. Always set the highest goals, even if they sound crazy.
“At least if you don’t reach them, you’ll have still achieved something great by trying.”