Siblings stoked to graduate together after All Blacks and PhD success

George, a professional rugby player and All Black, has been chipping away at his study part-time. Meanwhile, Lucy has had her head down with a PhD in Soil Science. With a bit of luck and an extra Summer School paper the pair have landed at the same graduation ceremony.

George has spent the last six years earning a Bachelor of Commerce, which would usually land him in the Friday morning ceremony. As an Agriculture and Life Sciences student, Lucy was scheduled to graduate that afternoon.

But the pair had already worked hard on their degrees and managed to graduate in the same year, so they asked if they could be part of the same ceremony. Lincoln made an exception.

The pair will cross the same stage on Friday afternoon with proud friends and family members in the audience.

“I’m really thrilled we’ve been able to graduate together,” Lucy said. “I’ve kind of been encouraging George along to get his undergraduate done in time.”

“For a second it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to graduate in time with my thesis. I thought ‘Oh god, I’ve been on George’s case. Now I’m going to be the one letting the team down’.

“I’m so grateful Lincoln is allowing us to graduate together.”

George was stoked to be able to shift ceremonies. “It’s pretty special to be able to share the moment with my sister,” he said.

“I was taken aback at how much work had gone into her PhD. It’s very impressive, I’m very proud of her. It’s a massive achievement.”

For her PhD, Lucy studied soil acidity in the Central Otago high country. She worked to understand why the soils are so acidic and rich with aluminium, and which legumes grow best there.

It was an important topic for Lucy, as she, George, and their brother Henry grew up on a farm in East Otago, not far from where she conducted her research.

“I was always a bit of a farm girl and loved science. Going to Lincoln for Ag Science was a natural progression for me.

“Now I’m going to be Dr Bell. It’s kind of surreal to be honest. It sounds a bit strange still.”

Just as George was proud of his sister’s hard-earned achievements, Lucy was more than happy to brag about her little brother.

“I’m so proud of him. It’s so awesome to see him playing for the All Blacks and finishing his degree. It’s really impressive.”

George is a member of the Lincoln University Rams, has been playing for the Crusaders since 2022 and made his All-Black debut last year. He’s one of Lincoln’s Sports Scholars, which helped him keep on track with both rugby and his studies.

“I’m very fortunate that I went to Lincoln and had such a good support crew. It’s made my life a lot easier.”

George loved being able to fit his studies in while training and is looking at returning for further study in the future.

“It was quite a useful tool to balance my rugby life. I could get away and work my brain in different ways.”

We’ll be celebrating alongside George and Lucy on Friday the 9^th May. Congratulations of your achievements.