Gracie Owen was in disbelief when she snapped up her greatest achievement at her school’s senior prizegiving.
The 17-year-old Paeroa College student was honoured on October 30 as she received her award as Paeroa College Dux for 2024.
The top honours student told The Profile it was a surreal but “very proud moment”.
It was like “seeing the hard work pay off”, she said.
Gracie appreciated all her peers, the parents and teachers who offered support and congratulations following her big win, she said.
She was blown away to be in good company with past dux achievers, which included familiar people such as Grier Buchanan and Jamie McGahan, she said.
And the history behind the dux cup was something Gracie was in awe of.
It was cool how so many people before her had held it and whose names were etched into it as far back as 1958, she said.
“I’ve always thought, you know, I’ve worked hard at school, but I think this has kind of validated that.”
But the thing that “drove me to do well” was to take subjects she enjoyed, she said.
Biology, health and chemistry were subjects she said she loved, and her teachers also made a big difference.
“When the teacher is genuinely interested in teaching you and wants you to do well, that’s a really big [and] helpful thing.”
Gracie, who currently has around 60 excellence credits up her sleeve, said one of her proudest moments was when she received excellence for an English assessment.
“English is not my strong subject,” so she was almost in tears when she found out the result, she said, and gave her a “newfound confidence”.
Since year-11, Gracie has aimed to do as well as possible and “try my hardest – that’s the best you can do”, she said.
School in general taught her to work hard and push herself, she said. “And it does feel good to push yourself.”
The leading academic said she would continue to push herself throughout university too, which is where she will head next year to study physiotherapy at Auckland University of Technology.
In the meantime, Gracie said she would work at her Subway job over the summer to save up some money for next year.
But something else Gracie was also interested in was sports.
Gracie said playing sports at Paeroa College “shaped me” to enjoy moving her body.
Her passions were running and rugby she said, and she was also part of the Thames Valley Vixens 7s women’s rugby team.
“It’s good to kind of unwind [and] just have time to be myself.”
One thing Gracie said she was “definitely going to miss” about school was getting to see her friends everyday, and also the cool teachers.
“I’ll always remember Miss Muller and Miss Dunser – they’re my favourites.”
But something she said was a highlight from her time at Paeroa College was when her sister, Jamie-Lee, organised the ‘Run for a Reason’ event last year alongside Grier Buchanan.
To see Jamie-Lee grow as a person and as a head student was something Gracie said “inspired me to do well”.
Gracie’s advice for other students who would like to work hard and aim for dux was to “try your best”.
Whether in sports, schoolwork or any personal goals: “it’s a good feeling when you try”, she said.
“Just try because it does feel good to achieve those things.
“But also, have fun.”
Meanwhile, Milah McGahan was named Proxime Accessit.
