Category: Te Pūkenga

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EIT | Te Pūkenga Valedictorian credits studying for putting his life back on track after rugby career in France | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

2 mins ago

Ausage Fomai will graduate with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science from EIT | Te Pūkenga on Friday. He is also Valedictorian at one of the ceremonies in Hawke’s Bay on Friday.

When Ausage Fomai returned home from playing rugby in France he was struggling with a number of issues, but now not only is he graduating from EIT | Te Pūkenga, he is also Valedictorian at one of the Hawke’s Bay ceremonies on Friday (18 August).

Ausage, 34, will graduate with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science from EIT | Te Pūkenga at the graduation ceremony at Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, in Hastings on Friday afternoon.

He was born in Auckland, but grew up in Hawke’s Bay, attending Hastings Boys’ High. A promising rugby player, Ausage went overseas to first play American Gridiron in Australia and then over to France, where he played for US Meyzieu Rugby Club near Lyon.

“When I came back from France, I actually had nothing to my name, no legacy. I was struggling with quite a few things.”

“My first thought was that my older brother Tivaini had gone through EIT and I saw that he was a teacher, and then I just thought that I’ll try, ‘maybe I could be a teacher one day’.”

“My first pursuit was to become a teacher like him and then, along that journey I found myself leaning towards more of the community side of things.”

“I had pretty much nothing and I just wanted to change the direction for my family and my three children.”

It has worked out well for Ausage as he has found his calling in life – working to uplift the Pasifika community.

“Last year in my final year of study, my full-year project was to use exercise to strengthen a relationship between parent and child for the Pasifika people. So, I did that study, and now I’m doing that full-time this year with a business we started up while I was studying called WOWbeing. Now I’m a director in the business.”

The WOW in WOWbeing stands for Wellbeing of Whānau.

“I set the company up with my older brother Tivaini, who did the degree in sport and rec, and then went on to do a teaching post grad. We also linked up with another set of brothers, Davis and Tyson Ataera. We used my project from my degree as our first programme of four in what we call the Journey to Prosperity.”

“I was proactive when I was studying so even though it was busy, I still just made the right connections with people. And our heart is for our Pasifika people.”

For now, Ausage is focused on graduating and his Valedictorian speech. He describes being selected as Valedictorian as surprise and an honour.

He plans to use his Valedictorian speech to encourage his fellow graduands to pursue their dreams.

“I stepped out of my comfort zone to create something that wasn’t there, so I will tell them to ‘Just dream big and nothing’s impossible’.”

Ausage says his family is looking forward to supporting him at the graduation, but unfortunately his brother Neria will not be able to attend as he is flying out to France on the same day to represent Manu Samoa at the Rugby World Cup.

Neria started the studying journey with Ausage and ended up completing his NZ Certificate in Exercise.

“Unfortunately he won’t be here. He plays for the Magpies in Hawke’s Bay, but he has been selected to go to the World Cup with the Manu Samoa team. So, that’s him now,” says Ausage.

Dr Helen Ryan-Stewart, Head of School Health and Sport Science at EIT | Te Pūkenga, says: “We are so proud of all our 2023 graduates. They have successfully studied and balanced life commitments faced with the added challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have shown incredible resilience, determination, and adaptability in the face of unprecedented circumstances.”

“We are moved by the passion and work of Ausage and his team in Pacific communities. They have and are working to continue to make a difference in the lives of their people by tackling some of the biggest challenges around health disparities. The skills that Ausage has developed during his studies are now allowing him to create positive change. Ausage was an obvious choice as Valedictorian to represent his peers; his journey is inspiring and we are honoured to see him graduate from EIT | Te Pūkenga.”

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EIT | Te Pūkenga Valedictorian excited to be graduating and embarking on new career | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

12 mins ago

Anna Kelland will graduate with concurrent Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science degrees at the EIT | Te Pūkenga Hawke’s Bay graduation on Friday. She is also the Valedictorian.

Anna Kelland was thrilled when she was told she would be one of two Valedictorians at the EIT | Te Pūkenga graduation ceremonies on Friday (18 August), and she can’t wait to carry on with her exciting new career.

Anna, 22, completed the final year of the concurrent Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science degrees last year, and is now working as a viticulture technician for Constellation Brands in Marlborough.

However, she is looking forward to returning to Hawke’s Bay to attend one of two graduation ceremonies at the Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre War Memorial Theatre in Hastings on Friday.

“I was very happy to receive the email from my Head of School, Sue. I had wondered before the graduation was postponed in March, who the valedictorians were going to be. And then, of course, that was postponed. And then the month before, I was thinking, ‘Who’s it going to be?’ and it was not too long ago that I got the email from Sue. ‘Oh, it’s going to be me.’ Exciting.”

Anna has shown her talent from a young age, having left Taradale High School in Year 12 as Dux of the school and enrolled in the degree when she was still 17 years old. She was so young when she started the degree that she was not allowed to drink the wine in the wine-making course.

It did not hold her back as she received a number of awards for her excellent work. She received the Lawson Robinson Hawke’s Bay A&P Society Scholarship at the Napier Port Hawke’s Bay Primary Sector Awards 2022. She had also received an EIT | Te Pūkenga Year 13 Scholarship for her first year and then a Bragato Trust Study Grant in her second year.

Anna says she is finding that what she was taught at EIT | Te Pūkenga is helping her in her new job.

“The combination of teaching us about the scientific approach to wine making, and viticulture, it did go really in depth. But there was also that practical side with industry partners, and people who were industry leaders becoming lecturers, teaching us about how things are really done. So we had those two different approaches to our thinking, going to the workforce. I definitely felt super prepared.”

Her attention is now turning to graduation and it is an opportunity for the family to come together and celebrate.

“Mum and dad will be there. My sister is over in Sydney, where she works for the Heart Research Institute. She was a graduate speaker at her ceremony when she graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Victoria University of Wellington. So it makes two of us. Mum and dad are really proud of her too.”

“I’m hoping she’ll watch the stream of the ceremony since she’s overseas.”

Anna says she is very proud to be graduating.

“I’m a very academic person and I do take a lot of pride in my studies. It’s very important to me. I definitely put quite a good amount of focus on my studies.”

While she may have finished her degree, the studying continues for Anna. In 2021, she also enrolled in Wine and Spirits Education Trust London, to get her diploma. She is doing the programme through the New Zealand School of Wine and Spirits.

“I’m still studying, I’m not particularly free of it yet. I have my final exam in October.  I’ve been doing that in my spare time, alongside my full time studying at EIT| Te Pūkenga. And it continues now while I am working.”

Sue Blackmore, the Head of the School of Viticulture and Wine Science at EIT | Te Pūkenga, says: “Anna is a very worthy valedictorian; she has always been both strong academically and also focused on finding a rewarding career in the wine industry once she finished.”

“She is part of a very strong cohort of students and I want to congratulate all of our graduates.”

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Celebrations as cohort graduates from EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti Campus | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

2 mins ago

Graduates from EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti on parade at the graduation ceremony in Gisborne today.

A cohort of ākonga (students) from EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti Campus were celebrated in front of kaimahi (staff), whānau and friends as they graduated today.

After delays to the ceremony, first due to COVID-19 early last year, and again because of Cyclone Gabrielle, the Tairāwhiti Graduation Ceremony was held today (Friday August 4) at the War Memorial Theatre.

Of the 68 ākonga to graduate, 58 attended.

Kieran Hewitson, Te Pūkenga Tumu Whenua ā-Rohe 2 | Executive Director, Region 2, was the keynote speaker. Also in attendance was Te Pūkenga Chief Digital Officer Teresa Pollard and Huia Haeata, Tumu Whenua ā-Rohe 2 | Executive Director, Region 2.

Bachelor of Computing Systems graduates Joshua Vincent Reedy and Niamh Carroll Athy were recognised with special awards.

Joshua won the Cyclone Computer Company Ltd Award for Academic Excellence in the Bachelor of Computing Systems, and Niamh won the Spark Digital Award for Academic Excellence in the Bachelor of Computing Systems.

Ashleigh Marie Harding won the PricewaterhouseCoopers Award for Academic Excellence in the Bachelor of Business Studies Accounting Major.

Tracey Tangihaere, Executive Director of the EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti Campus, says the ceremony was recognition of the talent coming through EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti.

“We wish to congratulate all ākonga for this achievement during some difficult times. They have done the mahi and now it is time for them to reap the rewards.”

“We are proud of the programmes we offer at Tairāwhiti which offers locals a wide range of career pathways to excel in.”

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Computing systems student set to become first in his family to graduate | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

35 seconds ago

Izaya (Izzy) Jahnke will graduate with a Bachelor of Computing Systems from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga tomorrow (Friday 4 August).

Izaya (Izzy) Jahnke is looking forward to graduating with a Bachelor of Computing Systems from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga tomorrow (Friday 4 August) as he will become the first in his family to do so.

It has been a long journey for Izzy, who went to school at Gisborne Boys’ High. Upon leaving school he received numerous scholarships to study engineering in Auckland. He spent a year and a half there, but returned to Gisborne after finding the going too tough.

Izzy says looking back the leap from school to university in Auckland had been too big.

“I guess I just had no experience at all. I felt like we jumped straight into the deep end at uni and I knew nothing at all, which was very high level coding and software development. So I kind of needed to come to EIT where they could have more one-on-ones and teach the fundamentals, the basics. I decided to pick up where I left at from uni and finished at EIT.”

Enrolling in EIT | Te Pūkenga in 2019 is a move he does not regret as he now prepares to graduate, which he describes as “quite an honour”.

“It feels like a dream has come true.”

Izzy’s father is German-Samoan and his mother is Māori (Ngati Porou), which makes his achievement more special for him.

“I guess I just wanted to show that as a Māori/Islander, you can get a high qualification such as degree, even if you are living in tough situations with financial issues. There’s always ways to increase and improve your growth.”

He says that what he enjoyed about the EIT | Te Pūkenga degree was the friends and colleagues he made.

“It helped me seeing everyone going through the same struggles and seeing them overcome them as well.”

Izzy says he found the three years fun and the lecturers and tutors supportive.

He finished his degree early last year, but has had to wait to graduate because COVID-19 delayed the ceremony.

While he was studying he had worked part-time in an orchard and has moved to fulltime while he waits to graduate.

The plan is to now begin looking for an IT job.

“I really love cybersecurity, however, at this time I’ve been doing my own hobby, which is fixing things and laptops, replacing screens and all. So I guess I will look at something along those lines, repairing hardware.”

As for studying further, it is something he is keen to do.

“It’s in my mind to either further the degree and do a Masters or return to engineering eventually. And then to specialise in either computing engineering or software engineering.”

EIT | Te Pūkenga Senior IT Lecturer Tina Blumenthal says: “It was our pleasure to have Izzy in the BCS programme. Not only did he achieve well throughout his study journey, but he also brought a positive, enquiring energy into our learning spaces, engaging others, and often coming up with innovative solutions to problems.”

“Izzy’s positive attitude, coupled with his professional smarts were evident at the outset.  He received the Spirit of GovHack Award, when a group of Tairāwhiti BCS students travelled to Hawke’s Bay to participate in the annual event. We wish Izzy all the best for the future.”

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Graduation a dream come true for Bachelor of Teaching student | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

2 mins ago

Sara Hallgarth is graduating with a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga.

For many years a lack of confidence stopped Sara Hallgarth from following her dream to be a teacher, but tomorrow (Friday, 4 August) she will graduate with a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga.

Born and bred in Gisborne, Sara, 39, is a mother of two young girls who has studied a range of subjects from driving training to te reo in the past. But it was always teaching where her heart lay.

“I’ve always wanted to do it, but never really had the confidence. So yeah, as soon as the kids got older and things were getting easier for us, I knew that it was time.”

“It was tough juggling because my husband, William, and I own a business, Peak Construction Gisborne, so it was hard to juggle life and things, but I feel like the lecturers there were so supportive, and they only ever wanted us to succeed. So having their support all the time was great.”

The highlight of the degree for Sara was the practical component which sees students spend two days per week getting practical training at local schools.

“It was fantastic. I was with experienced teachers throughout my training, so every teacher that I had as a mentor teacher had 20 plus years of experience so I was really lucky..”

The three years of study have not been without its challenges with Sara referring to her and her classmates as “the COVID graduates”.

Sara, who finished her degree in November last year, is now teaching at Mangapapa School in Gisborne, where she did her last practicum and where she also went to school as a young girl.

“I have come full circle and my girls also attended Mangapapa. I have great connections here. My nieces and nephews and family have gone through the school, so I just felt really connected. ”

She says that the degree at EIT | Te Pūkenga prepared her for the rigours of being a teacher of young primary school students.

“I think EIT really prepared us for that shock of reality, because the paperwork side does correlate to what we’re doing now. We have our expectations and EIT had their expectations and they are similar to being a teacher, even though we moaned about it a lot, that we had so much to do. But that’s the reality of being a teacher.”

Sara says she is keen to study further but is now focused on getting her registration as a teacher.

Before that she has the not so small matter of graduation, an event her family, including her daughters, Emily, 13 and Rosie, 11, will be attending.

Emma McFadyen, a lecturer in Primary Education at EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti, says: “Sara is one teacher from a cohort of twelve who will be graduating this year. It will be a moment of sheer joy for the teaching team and partnership schools as we watch this cohort cross the stage at graduation. Each individual has their own story, involving highs and lows, to get to this point in their journey, and they should be incredibly proud of their achievements.”