Isla Duporge
Student Stories Profiles
Isla Duporge
Name: Isla Duporge
Born: Great Britain
Age: 18
Locations: Christchurch - Canterbury
Discipline: Arts, Humanities, Community & Social Science
Before joining the Arts stream of UC’s Foundation Studies programme, Isla travelled to Holland, Spain, Botswana and the US. It was her love of travel that made her decide to study in New Zealand. “I wanted to live in a foreign country while undertaking a course of study that would enable me to get into university. Being a safe, English-speaking country with a small population and a high quality education system, New Zealand was a natural choice”, she says.
Isla is pleased she decided to do Foundation Studies rather than complete her final year of high school back in England: “The programme is much less stressful than high school as I am being assessed throughout the semester rather than just at exam time”. She also likes the mix of people in her classes: “I am studying with both local and international students who are of different ages which I really enjoy.”
After she has completed the programme, Isla would like to work for an NGO for a couple of years and then go on to study something related to international development at university.
Although she is unsure of exactly what she will do just yet she is definitely enjoying her time in Christchurch: ”I have joined the University’s tramping, debating and Ultimate Frisbee clubs and last weekend I participated in TWALK, an event organised by the tramping club which is like a treasure hunt organised over 24 hours. Also, lots of my friends and family have come to visit so I have been travelling all around the South Island with them too”.
Christchurch - Canterbury
Christchurch is the main centre of the Canterbury region, an elegant old city close to the Southern Alps.