Garin College student Nate Wilbourne is off to Germany later this year for a two-year United World Colleges’ (UWC) scholarship after being selected from just six finalists in New Zealand.
The just-turned-16-year-old was awarded the Sustainability Champion Scholarship award to the Robert Bosch College in Freiburg, which is an international school for about 200, 16 to 18-year-olds. It is part of the UWC global movement that ‘makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future’.
That is right up Nate’s alley as he is the environmental captain at Garin College, has been an environmental leader on the Blake Inspire (Sir Peter Blake Trust) programme, is the regional coordinator for School Strikes 4 Climate and volunteers for Forest and Bird around conservation and advocacy. He has also founded his own non-profit organisation, Gen-Z Aotearoa.
“It’s a youth advocacy forum to inspire, educate and empower young people on issues like politics and what is happening in the community,” he says.
Through Gen-Z Aotearoa he uses social media platforms to inform young people and transfers that into “mahi on the ground”.
“It’s a one-stop shop for young people to take action and learn about what is happening around them.”
In January this year, as a 15-year-old, he was invited to speak at the World Environmental Education Congress in the United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi, where his topic was Intergenerational action for nature.
He applied for the UWC scholarship in December and was selected as a finalist, along with another Garin College student, to go to Wellington earlier this month. Last week he learnt he had won a scholarship and found out which of the 18 UWC colleges around the world he would be attending. The scholarship will pay for all his fees, accommodation and food for two years, beginning in August when the new school year begins in Germany.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you want to make change in the world, it’s an opportunity to learn more about world cultures and affairs and issues.
“It’s kind of stepping on to the global stage and getting the education that will help me with my career.”
Politics is definitely a possibility as a career for Nate, but equally appealing is being a zoologist in South America.
Either way, he wants to do his part to leave Earth in a better place than he found it.
“I want to make a difference and be a voice for those that don’t have a voice.”
