‘Over the moon’ - South Shields student secures his ‘dream place’ at the University of Oxford
A South Shields student is celebrating his dream of receiving a place at the University of Oxford.
A Harton Academy Sixth Form student is “over the moon” to have achieved his dream after he was awarded a place to study at Oxford University.
Hughie Watanabe, from South Shields, secured three A* grades in maths, further maths and physics on A-level results day (Thursday, August 13).
It means that he will now head off to read mathematics/mathematics and statistics at the University of Oxford’s Christ Church College, which is one of the institution’s constituent colleges.
‘All of my hard work has paid off’
Speaking to the Shields Gazette after receiving his results, Hughie revealed how he felt when he found out that he had been accepted into the prestigious university.
He said: “I was so ecstatic and over the moon - I couldn’t believe it.
“The nervous part was this morning when I was lying in bed constantly refreshing UCAS to see if I’d gotten in.
“I think I was refreshing the page every 10 seconds and then it changed to ‘you’ve been accepted to Oxford’.
“I was so over the moon that I just started crying.
“It is really rewarding knowing that all of my hard work has now paid off - all the late nights of studying and having to say no to going out with my friends was all worth it in the end.”
‘He is going off to live his dream’
Kerrell Watanabe, Hughie’s mum, has expressed her delight that her son is now able to go to study at his dream university and hopes that he can be an inspiration to other students in the the North East.
She commented: “It is lovely to know that he is going off to live his dream, he has always been amazing at maths and has always wanted to go there.
“So to know that he has now actually achieved it so just phenomenal.
“I always knew that he was going to do it but it was nice to know that his place was officially cemented at Oxford.
“It just shows that even if you come from somewhere like the North East where it might not be that common to get into places like Oxford, with hard work and dedication, it can be done.”