Selwyn Times: April 07, 2021

Selwyn Times Wednesday April 7 2021
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Geography whizz Leah gets to
compete against best in the world
• By Susan Sandys
WHEN IT comes to geography,
Darfield High School student
Leah Hamilton-Cross is one of
the best in the country.
In August, the 17-year-old,
who lives in Hororata, will get
her chance to compete against
other top students from across
the globe, at the International
Geography Olympiad 2021.
The Olympiad is an annual
competition for 16 to 19-year-old
geography students, chosen to
represent their countries from
thousands who participate in
their own national geography
olympiads.
After being cancelled last year
with Covid-19 border closures, it
was planned this year for Istanbul,
Turkey.
However, organisers recently
decided the August event will
be held online instead due to
the continuing Covid-19 uncertainty.
The New Zealand team of
four will compete together from
Wellington.
Leah said while she had
travelled to many places around
the world with her family, she
had never been to Turkey. After
researching the country, she had
been keen to go there.
However, it had been no
surprise when the event moved
online. She remained just as
excited about representing her
country and meeting up with her
teammates.
Leah believed that she and her
fellow three competitors had a
chance of winning, which would
see New Zealand named the
champion of the prestigious and
highly-competitive event.
“It’s a lot of pressure representing
New Zealand, and I hope we
will do well,” the school prefect
said.
“I think it’s such a great opportunity,
and I’m excited for where
it is going to take me,” she said.
She had been “super excited”
when she found out she had
come through the gruelling selection
process, which included
writing an essay and an interview,
to be named in the top four
in the country.
Her career goal is to become
a scientist or researcher in the
fields of environmental management
or geography.
The iGeo will be a written test,
a multimedia test and substantial
fieldwork requiring observation,
leading to cartographic
representation and geographical
analysis. The programme also
includes poster presentations by
teams.
Leah said she is looking forward
to being asked all sorts of
questions around topics such as
climate change, ocean processes,
shore dynamics, earthquakes,
the hydraulic cycle and society
development.
“I love geography,
it’s
my favourite
subject,” she
said.
Leah is
grateful to the
community for
helping her get
to the Olympiad.
Malvern Lions Club
contributed $400 and
Malvern Community
Board put in $500
from the Malvern Ward
Discretionary Fund.
TOP STUDENT: Leah
Hamilton-Cross will
compete in the
International Geography
Olympiad in August.
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