Elaine Kelly, 7 August 2026
Old Boys Return to Inspire
Today, as part of the Junior Belonging Day, students were lucky enough to hear from three old boys who spoke to them about how their learning and life journeys had gone since leaving Otago Boys’.
Oak Chisholm and Harry Bezett talked to the boys about how they balanced their basketball careers playing for the Otago Nuggets with studying at university and how they had to work hard to be focussed and motivated to maintain good grades, as well as giving top performances in their sport.
Reuben Cook, who has recently returned to NZ after graduating from top Ivy League school Princeton, told the boys how difficult he found his life in the US to start with. A heavy academic workload as well as a full on training schedule for rowing meant that he had to dig deep and tap into some of the values that he had learned at school.
Juniors were inspired to know that for all three boys the values of courage and perseverance played a key role in their success to date. The old boys encouraged junior students to fully embrace these values whilst at school because they will set them up for real life.
