St Peter’s School
St Peter’s School’s 2025 NCEA proxime accessit is Aveline Pearson-Riley and Isaac Mueller was named the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) proxime accessit.
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Aveline Pearson-Riley. PhotoLife
Aveline plans to tackle a conjoint degree at the University of Auckland next year – a Bachelor of Arts majoring in psychology and Bachelor of Laws.
“I’d love to pursue a career that combines psychology and law, potentially something in policy, advocacy, or mental health law,” she said.
“I’m interested in working somewhere that allows me to make meaningful change.”
Aveline was top of NCEA year 13 mathematics (statistics and probability), health studies and history this year, and also studied psychology and biology.
She said volunteering had been a meaningful part of her school life.
While at St Peter’s, she has tutored younger students, visited the Refugee Outreach Centre at St Paul’s, organised a clothes drive for Kids in Need and taken part in the Relay for Life.
“High school taught me that the best thing you can do is stay true to who you are,” she said.
“It’s easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, but real confidence comes from knowing yourself and following your own path, even when it looks different from others.”
Isaac Mueller thought of his mother, Tracy, who died when he was three years old, when he was named St Peter’s School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) proxime accessit for 2025.
Isaac Mueller. PhotoLife
“I felt satisfied that I did something to make my mum proud,” he said.
“To me it felt better knowing how well I’ve done by my parents rather than any internal gratification.”
Isaac was top of year 13 IB history and environmental systems and societies this year. He also studied English literature, psychology, Japanese and mathematics (analysis and approaches).
During his time at St Peter’s he was a year 8 Thornton prefect, academic ambassador, chapel prefect, Enviro-Club treasurer and a member of the prem debate team.
He recently won a Top Achiever Scholarship from the University of Auckland, where he plans to study law in conjunction with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Japanese next year.
Isaac said his father had been the biggest contributor to his academic success.
“I’ve always admired his determination in everything he does and he raised me to work hard, be independent, and remain intrinsically motivated,” he said.
“I’ve also seen firsthand the sacrifices he’s made to get me to St Peters, so I don’t think I could do anything but work hard.”
