Fergus Ritchie who left Lindisfarne at the end of 2018 has been offered a scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Harvard University. Fergus’ entry to Harvard, which has an acceptance rate of only 5.2%, was undoubtedly linked to his prowess at rowing which was already evident when he was still at school and placed second in the U18 single sculls event at Maadi Cup, but he still had to meet rigorous academic conditions and compete with thousands of other applicants.

Fergus is planning on studying Mechatronics or Mechanical Engineering with a minor in biology and we asked him whether his time at Lindisfarne had helped him prepare for this rigorous course: “It was clear to me at school that as long as you were fully committed, teachers were always willing to go the extra mile to assist you in reaching your full academic potential. Balancing studies and training was difficult at times, however, teachers always helped me juggle the load and I owe them a tremendous debt for that. I’d particularly like to thank Mr Richardson, Mrs Duncan, Mr Hanham , Mrs Biggs and the Learning Support department for being patient and supportive mentors”

When we caught up with him recently, Fergus told us a bit about the scholarship he has won: “The admissions and scholarship system is very different in the US compared to NZ. The best way I can describe it is that rowing helped me get admitted to Harvard. Once you are admitted every student is offered a scholarship depending on their personal situation and I was very lucky to be offered a generous scholarship that covers a significant proportion of my fees as well as health insurance.”

Rowing is a sport that requires a huge time commitment and we asked Fergus how he sustained the level of application needed to succeed: “I think that being involved in a smaller sport at Lindisfarne actually ended up being to my benefit. I had to practice self-management and self-motivation in order to make the most of my time, both of which become incredibly important skills once you leave school. “
 

Fergus is excited at taking up this wonderful opportunity as soon as the global crisis caused by COVID-19 allows but he is aware that there will be many challenges ahead: “I think the biggest challenge will be managing my time to make the most of every opportunity offered to me. Trying to keep up academically whilst training twice a day Monday-Friday and having some sort of social life will be a difficult but rewarding challenge. I’ll also have to teach myself imperial units of measurement but that’s a relatively minor issue.”

Fergus is a great example of where hard work and dedication can take you and we wish him every success at Harvard.

Article added: Thursday 07 May 2020