Kearsney old boy heads for Harvard
Grey Royston looks forward to his first year as an under-graduate at Harvard University this year.
GREG Royston, one of South Africa’s top 2013 matriculants and a SA Schools golfer, has been accepted as an under-graduate to Harvard University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
The teenager from Hillcrest has heard that he has been accepted for this September’s intake at the esteemed Ivy League university in Massachusetts. Harvard University, which celebrates its 378th anniversary this year, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
Having already been offered scholarships to the American universities of Notre Dame, Indiana and Duke in North Carolina, Greg was delighted to learn that he had been accepted into Harvard. Harvard receives approximately 40 000 applications from around the world each year and enrol just 2 000 first year students.
Greg (19) is excited by the prospect of becoming part of such a stimulating and rigorous academic environment, while also being able to benefit from Harvard’s highly respected golf programme.
To satisfy himself that Harvard was the best option, he visited the university to attend a few lectures, soak up the atmosphere and meet the golf team. His visit confirmed for Greg that Harvard was the perfect place for him.
“I was enormously impressed – not only by the facilities, history and famous alumni – but also by the intrinsic philosophy of collaboration and the friendly and welcoming environment,” he said.
While Greg does not have any family in the United States, he will be able to get advice and support from William Scott, a fellow Kearsney College old boy who was also accepted directly to Harvard following his outstanding matric results in 2005. In preparation for the big move, Greg has already made contact with William, who graduated from Harvard with an engineering degree in 2010 and is currently employed at Morgan Stanley as a sales and trading associate in New York City.
Over his four years as a Harvard undergraduate, Greg will study 32 courses, majoring in applied mathematics and economics. Within each of the courses there is a vast choice of specialised modules. He will also play golf for the university and return to South Africa during the long vacations to play on the local circuit.
Kearsney headmaster Elwyn van den Aardweg said that Greg was clearly an intelligent young man who was also a gifted sportsman.
“This combination, at the level that he performs at, is truly rare. He has flourished in an environment which offers excellence to the well-rounded individual, and has enormous academic and golfing talent which we believe will be enhanced by his Harvard experience,” said Aardweg.
“My parents always encouraged me to dream big. My interest in finance was sparked by a teacher at Kearsney, where I was taught to think out of the box, and also to challenge things and understand everything for myself, not just because I’ve been told something,” the ebullient traveller said.
Greg is convinced that his experiences at Kearsney have prepared him to face any challenge.
