Emma McDonough Faucher, a college student from Castleton in the state of Vermont, was one of 1089 applicants from 615 US universities to apply for the scholarship, and impressed the selection panel with her knowledge of New Zealand and desire to understand and experience the Kiwi lifestyle and culture, including Māoritanga.
Emma says she has always dreamed about studying abroad, with New Zealand being particularly attractive as an education destination. Emma says, “I have wanted to study abroad my entire life and New Zealand has been my goal.
Māori culture is one of the things I am especially looking forward to learning about—I find it interesting that Maori people describe themselves by their tribe (iwi), sub-tribe (hapū), mountain (maunga), and river (awa).”
“The creativity and passion of Emma’s submission distinguished it from the large number of other very impressive applications. The fact that she plays rugby also makes this a good match!” says ENZ’s Regional Director for The Americas, Lisa Futschek.
US students choose New Zealand as an education destination because of the unique study experience we offer here—a high-quality education in an English-speaking country with a distinct culture and lifestyle. US students who come here are often adventure seekers who enjoy the great outdoors and like to get off the beaten track, but also want to enjoy the vibrant city life.
They know they can experience all these things, and attain a globally-recognised qualification, in New Zealand.”
ENZ partnered with leading study abroad advisory service, Go Overseas, who ran a six week campaign across the US from 1 September to 15 October. During this time over 26,000 people visited the campaign page, and 2,600 study abroad advisers and over 1500 universities were contacted and notified of the scholarship.
Leads from scholarship applicants and others who registered interest have been referred to participating New Zealand education providers.
Ms Futschek says, “As well as giving a lucky student the chance to study in New Zealand, campaigns such as this are an important part of ENZ’s work to raise awareness around the world of New Zealand’s high-quality education offering.”