Homeless Boy With No Schooling Becomes New Zealand Lawyer

A boy who couldn't read past a second-grade level at age 15 just took the oath to become a lawyer in New Zealand.

Stuart Appleby spent his childhood without formal education after his mother pulled him from school at age five. For the next decade, he received no structured learning while his family moved between shelters, state housing, and eventually tents in the Waitākere Ranges.

At 15, Appleby ran away from the tent where his family had been living for six months. He moved in with his grandparents, a decision he calls life-changing.

"That decision changed my life," he said. His grandmother enrolled him at Kelston Boys' High School, where teachers discovered he had a reading age of just seven.

Instead of giving up on him, his teachers worked overtime to help him catch up. Appleby threw himself into his studies, later becoming a prefect and earning strong grades. But fear held him back from university.

"I wanted to study, but I was afraid that my background wouldn't allow it," he said. So he worked construction instead, unhappy but convinced he had no other path forward.

During the pandemic, friends encouraged him to reconsider. Appleby enrolled at Auckland University of Technology to study law, determined to earn his place on merit alone. He graduated with his Bachelor of Laws in 2025.

Last week, at 33, Appleby was officially admitted to the bar as a barrister and solicitor. He now works at Davenports West lawyers and plans to focus on criminal, property, and employment law.

Why This Inspires

Appleby's story matters beyond his personal triumph. He's now advocating for stronger oversight of home education after writing to New Zealand's Education Minister about the system that failed him and his five siblings.

"Children can remain unseen for years," he wrote, calling for reforms to prevent other kids from becoming "educationally invisible." His childhood friends weren't as fortunate. Some ended up in prison, and Appleby acknowledges he nearly went the same direction.

A Family Court judge once told young Appleby he'd have a great future in law. Decades later, that prediction came true because a few people refused to let him fail.

Appleby hopes to enter politics someday to strengthen protections for vulnerable children. For now, he's proof that with the right support at the right time, anyone can rewrite their story.