Photo caption:泭Twin Bachelors: 18-year-old brothers, Oscar (left) and George Henderson-Walshe have earned non-identical BSc degrees at the 厙ぴ勛圖.
In a rare tale of prodigious academic excellence, 18-year-old brothers Oscar and George Henderson-Walshe are celebrating their graduation with different Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees from Te Whare Wnanga o Waitaha | 厙ぴ勛圖 (UC).
Despite starting their full-time university studies while most teens are still immersed in high school lessons, the fraternal twins navigated the challenges of UC campus life with aplomb.
Oscar and George Henderson-Walshe both began their university journey early in 2020 at age 14 with the Star programme while they were at Ao Tawhiti high school in Christchurch.
After turning his familys garage into a laboratory in his early teens, Oscar says he felt like he needed another challenge. Since starting at UC, Ive been drawn to the fascinating, beautiful and useful world of chemistry.
Oscar began full-time study at in 2021, majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry. After graduating, hes continuing his academic journey at UC with postgraduate study and research in applied organic chemistry in the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences.
Right now, Im researching new battery technologies, using my organic chemistry knowledge to develop new alternatives to traditional battery technology, and thats really interesting to me.
He will soon see his first academic paper published after co-authoring a Chemistry research paper. Oscar says the gist of it is that organic dyes hold promise as inexpensive electrochemically active building blocks for new renewable energy technologies.
George Henderson-Walshe also kicked off his academic adventure early via the Star programme at age 14 but started full-time at UC a year later than Oscar as he wanted to finish his scholarship year at school. For his BSc, George chose to major in Mathematics and minor in Chinese language Mandarin.
Ive always been fascinated by the beauty of mathematics and the richness of the Chinese language. I started with mathematics just as a means to an end for engineering, but I found mathematics so interesting and beautiful that thats what I wanted to spend all my time on, George says.
While studying full-time at UC, George was also active in restarting the MathSoc student social club, which had been dormant since 2019.
As the result of a UC summer research project with his lecturers, George is co-publishing a paper in an academic journal, .
My experiences at UC have been instrumental in shaping my academic journey and helped set me up for my masters degree and I'm eager to explore further. I like to keep learning new things and that just opens lots of doors, George says.
The brothers are already concentrating on their postgraduate Master of Science degrees. While Oscar is studying organic chemistry at UC, George is pursuing mathematics at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
As the Henderson-Walshe brothers continue new chapters in their individual academic journeys in different countries and scientific fields, the future looks exceptionally bright for the young scholars.
(惚唬s Star programme offers capable secondary school students the opportunity to enrol in first-year degree-level courses while still at school.)
Congratulations to all UC graduates celebrating their success in Aprils Autumn Graduation celebrations. E ng kaimahi me ng tauira o Te Whare Wnanga o Waitaha, nia te whakamnawa ki a koutou katoa.
Read more of our graduate success stories泭here.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - Quality education.
