Selwyn Times: May 17, 2016

16
Tuesday May 17 2016
What foreign scholarships mean
SELWYN TIMES
LOOKING AHEAD: Caroline Pearson, 18, is off to Oregon
State University, where she has been given a four-year rowing
scholarship.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
Hundreds of young people head overseas each
year to take up foreign scholarships, and it has
developed into a multi-million dollar industry.
Gabrielle Stuart looked into why our students are
wanted, and where the scholarships lead
AT 18, Caroline Pearson has
been valued at more than
$500,000.
That is what the four year
rowing scholarship she has
accepted to Oregon State
university this year is worth.
She started rowing at 14 as a
student at St Margaret’s College,
mostly because at 1.55m she was
tall for a girl and told she had
the build for it.
But she had developed a passion
for it, and her sights are
now set on rowing in one of
the top boats in the United
States.
She helped her St Margaret’s
school rowing team take
home gold at both the South
Island Secondary Schools
Championships and the national
Maadi Cup regatta.
And it wasn’t only in rowing
she excelled: Working hard
in academics with the goal of
studying law, and playing viola
in the NZ Secondary Schools
Symphony Orchestra.
The scholarship was a way she
could do it all, she said.
“The real drawcard is that
their college sporting system
is almost professional, so you
can go over there and have a
near professional experience
doing the sport you love, and
get a university degree as well. I
didn’t want to just row, I always
wanted to go to uni. Especially
with a sport it’s got a time limit
on it, so there’s always going to
be a time when you can’t do the
sport anymore. This means you
get the overseas experience with
no debt, even after training full
time and studying.”
But getting there wasn’t easy.
While most people she knew
used agencies to navigate the
complicated process of applying
to American universities, she did
it all herself.
She researched the programmes
offered at different
universities, and emailed the
coaches of about 20 different
universities she thought could
work.
About half came back to
her and set up Skype
interviews.
But the time she accepted the
offer at Oregon State, she had
exchanged about 30 emails with
the coach, had about 10 Skype
sessions and made a trip to the
US with her father to visit the
campus.
That was all done around
study and exams while she was
still at school.
AFS is one agency which
helps connect students with
overseas opportunities, mostly
for exchanges but also for things
like volunteer work or university
internships.
AFS communication and marketing
manager Susan Fogarty
said the experience was great
for very driven students, but was
also very good for those who
were still unsure.
“People finish high school and
think gosh, I don’t know what
I want to do, so they go out and
do this.”
The fact universities were
more open to cross-crediting had
driven a lot more students to do
it, she said.
Miss Pearson said she was
open to all possibilities once
she graduated, she did want
to return home after her
scholarship.
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