The accomplished debater, Whangārei District Council Youth Advisory Group member and school board of trustees student representative was surprised to be selected.
“You look at this sort of programme and you’re immediately like ‘these kids are the top students in the country’ … I didn’t really expect much,” Janné said.
However, she made it through each step of a layered selection process involving a tough interview with United World College alumni, a meeting with a psychologist, an interview with United World Colleges (UWC) Aotearoa New Zealand National Committee chairwoman Lucy Telfar Barnard, and a group selection day in Auckland with the other remaining candidates.
She will work towards the International Baccalaureate Diploma, a globally recognised school-leaving certificate.
Her plans are to study biomedical engineering, combining her interests in maths, physics and medicine.
“I’m very much a STEM-minded person,” she said.
But Janné’s career path was about making an “important difference to the lives of so many people”.
“That’s just what I want to be able to do,” she said.
Year 13 Tauraroa Area School student Janné Loots is off to Canada in August after receiving a full scholarship to United World College of the Pacific on Vancouver Island.
Janné hoped her success would inspire other students to apply for the scholarship.
“That’s my biggest dream is to be able to go and pave the way for others or show kids that it is possible.
“It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you come from or what school you go to or anything like that. If you work really, really hard you can go get those things,” she said.
The most daunting part for Janné may be spending two years away from home, with two weeks the longest she has been apart from her family so far.
“This is what I’ve been working for. I’d be an absolute like silly goose to say no just because I’m scared. Because when things scare you that’s when you grow.”
However, Janné, originally from South Africa, was excited about the prospect of a white Christmas.
“That’d be pretty incredible. Like I don’t know how many Kiwi South African kids get to say at the age of like 18 and 19 that they’ve had like two white Christmases.”
Janné said her family and friends have supported everything she has done.
She has lost count of how many times her parents drove her to late-night meetings or training.
“I’m very fortunate in the fact that my parents have always supported me and never made me like doubt my own abilities. They’ve always told me if I set my mind to things like I’ll get it done and I’ll get there.”
The UWC scholarships are offered by the Shelby Davis Foundation annually. Applications for next year are now open.