After receiving her medal from the University of Waikato’s vice chancellor Neil Quigley, Rachel Waterton ran across the stage to wrap Madeleine Jago in her arms.
Cambridge High School dux Rachel Waterton and promixe accessit Madeleine Jago (left).
“We talked about it a few weeks ago and Maddie was like no, don’t get my hopes up,” Rachel said.
She had wondered “how cool it would be to be standing on that stage together”.
When they did, she noted they couldn’t stand still for a photo because we were too busy hugging.
Rachel was named dux of Cambridge High School last Thursday just minutes after one of her closest academic rivals and friends, Madeleine Jago, was named proxime accessit.
“I think it was more special for me because I got to share it with Madeleine,” Rachel said. “She’s my inspiration – I look up to her and I wouldn’t be on that stage without her.”
Principal Greg Thornton said Rachel, who aims to study engineering in Sydney next year, was an exceptional student and an “incredibly nice person to boot”.
She and Madeleine both acknowledged social sciences faculty head Blair Ludlam for his role in their success.
“He’s taught us that you don’t just have to have a career, you can genuinely have something you’re so passionate about, and we wouldn’t be up on that stage without him,” Rachel said.
Madeleine Jago with parents
Madeleine was “just over the moon” to be runner-up to dux.
“I was just so shocked to hear my name…and I couldn’t be prouder to be going up there with Rachel,” she said.
“I think we’re very good at pushing each other to do the best we can do and be the best we can be.”
She was looking forward to studying science at the University of Canterbury next year where her older sister Anna – the 2023 dux at Cambridge High – is a first-year engineering student.
“I want to do something to make a difference, I want to leave my mark, whether it’s environmental or something in leadership,” Madeleine said.
She said her parents, Rebecca and Dion, were her biggest cheerleaders.
“And my nana, Joy Jago, comes to every single prizegiving, every single football game, every single anything that I’m at.”
Although study is taking Rachel and Madeleine in different directions, there will always be a reminder of the academic heights the two friends inspired each other to reach.
“We get to be on the school honours board together for the next 50 years,” Rachel said.
“It’s like a legacy that we get to leave that we’re really proud of.”
Rachel Waterton and parents
