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Awhina Undergraduates

Hautahi
Kia Ora. Ko Hautahi toku ingoa, no Nga Rauru ahau.
I joined Awhina in 2007 and am now a senior mentor. I am currently finishing a BSc majoring in Maths and Statistics and a BCA in Economics and Finance and am looking forward to starting an honours year in economics.
The kaupapa of Te Rōpū Āwhina, the development of Maori and Pacific communities, is very important to me and I believe there is no better way of doing so than by promoting excellence in education.
This overarching objective is achieved through everyone supporting each other in a whanau environment. The real bonus of being in Āwhina has been the pleasure of meeting, working with, and helping so many talented people.
I am constantly amazed by what we get done, and the generosity shown by all those involved.
We call this the “Āwhina effect.” This has been taking place for 10 years now, and I have no doubt it will continue.

Anna
I hail from a small town called Manutuke, Gisborne on the East Coast.  I come from a family of 5, 1 older brother and sister and spent my first 18 years living the good life, came from a small and pretty close community and learnt heaps through my years at Manutuke School and Gisborne Girls' High School. 
Moved to the big smoke of Wellington to study Design, first time I moved out of a house let alone city but I have relished the opportunity to be independent and have come through the Interior Architecture course with a lot of skills and experiences. 
Became a mentor in my second year and have been part of Āwhina ever since, it’s been that small piece of that community at Uni which has been great.

Earl
I was born in the Fabulous Titahi Bay then moved to Auckland’s North Shore when I was little. After a prolonged stint across the ditch I hurried back to the mother land to start my tertiary education.
Currently I am in my 3rd year studying Industrial Design and loving every minute. First year saw me being mentored by Anna and that was my first experience with Āwhina . Āwhina has become an important part of life at Victoria, it has become the extended whanau you need at Uni.
Not to sure what particular area of interest I will go into yet but it’s gonna be a bright future.

Hannah

I am from Queenstown and am currently studying Interior Architecture. I am in my third year of study and enjoying it! Hopefully my studies take me far and around the world. I am interested in Production Design and Set Design.
Āwhina has been great in helping me get to know a lot more students at the Architecture and Design faculty as well as offering support and advice on school issues.

Jenna-Faith
Tēna koutou te whānau!
Hey, Wassup, My name is Jenna-Faith and my Iwi are Taranaki, Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Kahungunu. I was born and raised in the Wellington region until I was about 8 or 9 years old when my family moved up to the Kapiti Coast.
I’m currently in my 3rd year of my BA Double Major in Psychology and Māori studies and loving it. At this point, I want honours minimum but haven’t yet decided if I want to dive into that straight away or take a year off to go travel and see the world.
Te Rōpū Āwhina has been there since 1st year as a Poutokomanawa for helping and supporting its students in numerous ways. The Psychology Whānau room was an awesome space to be able to study and meet like-minded, cool people. The mentors were pretty primo as well, always emailing you to make sure you were all good and keeping on top of your workload. Famous last words, it’s true, “You only get out what you put in!”

Kalani

I am studying a Bachelors degree in Interior Architecture and in my third year. I am from a town called Whangarei. My parents have brought me up to always work hard for what I want and that education is an important part to my success in life. Goals are a huge part of how I got to be here at university. For the future ahead of me I hope to diversify in the design industry and also work towards completing a Masters degree.
I feel that knowledge is important in Āwhina and also having the knowledge of where you belong. I have been able to share and gain a lot from working with the Āwhina whanau.

Kate (Ngati Kahungunu & Ngati Porou)
I am currenly in my last trimester of a four year conjoint BSc/BTeach majoring in geography and a second teaching subject in biology. I’m from the Wairarapa and Wellington having moved between the two all my life. My degrees have been full on, three trimesters a year as well as working - I had a couple of weeks holiday over summer per year.
Āwhina has really helped me throughout this time, giving me a place to work, support when my Dad passed away in my second year and meeting great people. I hope next year to find a primary school job and move on to secondary schools later in my career. I hope to come back to university sometime in my future to further my science education and follow my passions into a different career.

Kisa
Hi I'm Kisa, 2nd year Interior Architecture. I am really enjoying this course. I feel it provides me the necessities that I need to know in the future to be an interior architect. This course allows me to express my ideas and design, and incorporate it with the skills we are taught to produce amazing interiors. I definitely suggest taking Interior Architecture at Vic if you love to design, express and deliver. :)

Samantha
I was raised in Rotorua and moved to Wellington to complete my Bachelor of Architecture, which is looking like it may become a Masters of Architecture! I am in my 3rd year of study and loving it.
I became involved in the Āwhina whanau when my pop passed away; he was the person in our family who was interested in our heritage and in Maori and Pacific development. I decided I would like to carry this on and was pleased to discover Te Rōpū Āwhina and get involved. I find mentoring very rewarding and also enjoy the support of peers.

 
Whare
Kia ora koutou,
Ko Whare Timu ahau,
He uri tenei na te ure whakaparati o Kahungunu,
He mokopuna na Te Huhuti, nana i kau ki te tau o tana a te ki a Te Whatuiapiti.
My name is Whare, and I am in my fifth and final year studying architecture. Ever since first year Te Rōpū Āwhina has played a massive role in my tertiary studies at Victoria. Studying architecture where there is only a small percentage of Maori and Pacific Islanders can be quite daunting. This is where Te Rōpū Āwhina is of huge help because it gives a sense of whanautanga which is an important factor for all Maori to strive and move forward. Te Rōpū Āwhina has also taught me the values in leadership and that we have the ability to be confident in whatever career choice we may pursue. I plan to take on a career cadetship with Te Puni Kokiri, which was available to me because of my involvement with Te Rōpū Āwhina .

Paul
Ko Uruao tōku waka
o Aoraki tōku maunga
Ko Makaawhio tōku awa
Ko Waitaha rātou ko Kāti Māmoe ko Kāi Tahu ōku ko Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō ōku hapū
Nō Whakatū ki Te Tau Ihu o te Waka ahau
Ko Paul Addison tōku ingoa.
E whai ana au i te tohu paetahi e aro nui ana i te waihanga. Ka mutu taua tohu i tēnei tau (arā i te tau 2009). Ki a au nei, he pai rawa atu Te Rōpū Āwhina nā te mea e tūāpātia ana i te whakawhanaungatanga i waenganui i ngā tauira Māori. Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.

Naomi
I'm from Whangarei
Ko Ngati Te Ata te iwi
I'm also part Samoan and English and Irish. I went to Kamo High School where I did drama, English, and the sciences. I'm slowly learning Te Reo, and would love to be fluent in this beautiful language of our ancestors. I'm currently completing my final semester of undergrad for my BSc in Psychology.  I'm interested in Environmental and Cross-Cultural and Clinical Psychology, all of which I plan to pursue at post graduate level. I think indigenous approaches to the environment are key to dealing with sustainability. I'd love to do research along these lines. I also love creative writing and am doing the children's creative writing course at the International Institute of Modern Letters. I like to simplify complicated concepts by putting the ideas into stories. Āwhina has helped me enormously along the way, the help and belonging has helped me in ways I can’t describe!

Natalie
Ko Hikurangi te maunga
Ko Waiapu te awa
Ko Ngati Porou te iwi
Ko Apirana Ngata te tangata
Ko Natalie toku ingoa.
Tena tatou katoa.  My name is Natalie and I am a third year student at Victoria University studying towards a BA in Psychology and Maori Resource Management.  I have been a mentor with Te Rōpū Āwhina since the beginning of the year after being introduced by my tutor, Arama Rata (PhD candidate), for psychology.  I have really enjoyed meeting other mentors and mentees alike and recommend this warm, educated whanau environment.  It is rewarding to help other tauira like myself who are striving for the same goals.  After graduating I would like to work towards an MA in Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Nick

I'm from Palmy North and currently in 3rd Year Interior Architecture. I'm hoping to move into either multi-million dollar Yacht fit-outs (Ka-ching!) or preferably become a production designer in Film. I'm a big fan of the Āwhina family - support is always there for the mentees as well as the mentors. Having a single place for us all to meet means that there can be cross-discipline interaction - all good for when you've hit the brick wall for how to get round a problem!

Rebecca
Hey, my name is Becks and I am a second year psychology student.   I grew up in Nelson, and moved to Wellington last year.  I have no idea where my studies will take me, but I’m loving studying and am looking forward to specialising in cross-cultural or family psychology.
Āwhina is great to keep on top of my studies, because everyone is doing or has done the same papers, so there is always help when I need it.

Stacey
E tū ake au ki te panekiritanga o Pukekaihau, tirotiro ake ki ngā puna waiora o te awa Tukituki me te roto Whātuma. Ki te tonga e takoto ngā mānia o Takapau me te whare tīpuna o Rākautātahi; ki te raki e takoto ngā whare tīpuna o Omahu o Heretaunga, Korongata me Mangaroa. He uri tēnei o Kahungunu. Ko Stacey Morgan tōku ingoa.
I was born and raised in the Mighty Hawke’s Bay, in a small rural town nestled between my marae. I whakapapa to Kahungunu (ki Tamatea me Heretaunga), Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Rarotonga, Wales and England. Currently, I’m pursuing a BSc Psychology and BA Māori Studies and Criminology at Victoria University. I would like to complete postgraduate studies in Clinical Psychology; I believe that the whānau and community plays an integral part to the sustenance of one’s wellbeing, thus I wish to promote this kaupapa with mentally ill Māori and Pacific Island people.
Āwhina came along in a time where my studies were starting to get on top of me. I’d always been studious at school, but struggled at tertiary level (I think it’s cos I didn’t have my mum chasing me up on my homework!). Āwhina provided me with mentors who held study sessions; through these I got to know other students who were also studying psychology. I’m pleased to say that now I’m the mentor running these study sessions, and I’m well on my way to graduating next year and starting my postgrad studies. I also see the people I have met through Āwhina as my on-campus whānau. So, even though my mum’s not here to nag at me, there will always be someone ready to kick me up the bum if I slack off!
My advice, koutou mā:
Whaia e koe ki te iti kahurangi; ki te tuohu koe, me maunga teitei; seek out those dreams of yours; and if you must bow your head, let it be only to a lofty mountain (in other words, pursue your dreams and don’t let anything stop you!)
        Nā reira, tēnā rā koutou katoa. Mauri ora!

Tracey
Kia ora kotou, my name is Tracey.  I have been a part of Āwhina for the last four years and am a Senior mentor this year working in our whanau office.  I am in my fourth and final year of undergraduate studies, completing a BA in Geography and Anthropology and a BSc in Environmental Studies and Ecology & Biodiversity, I am also an Environmental Studies tutor. Āwhina has been a great support network for me throughout my time at university and it's a great feeling to be able to give back to such a successful and committed community of friends.  Celebrating Āwhina 's 10th birthday this year was great and I look forward to seeing the whanau grow even more in the years to come!

Cassidy (Ngati Porou)

The Āwhina Outreach programme helped me a lot in making my decision to undertake a Bachelor of Biomedical Science. If it wasn’t for the experiments and the mentors, then I might have decided to stay only in commerce or possibly not attend university at all. I would recommend this programme to other students on the basis that it gave me an insight into the science world, helped me choose my desired speciality, and allowed me to meet many Māori and Pacific people that were succeeding in science and technology at university.

Shiro (Tuhoe)

I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I worked as a Teacher Aide for 2 years before beginning my study. I was apprehensive and anxious because I had been out of school for a while and have a 2 year old daughter. Also being away from my family was hard.

Luckily Āwhina was there to provide me with the support that I needed to achieve the goals that I had for myself. The mentor-mentee programme is excellent because it introduces you to peers who are doing the same course. Having the whanau rooms is extremely helpful because it offers a place to study with peers and we don’t have to fight for computers!

Tristram (Niue)

Since leaving school I have always wanted to study at university so I could get the job I want in the future in an area that I enjoy the most. I had a pretty rough start at uni, but Āwhina support has helped me through these first couple of years. In 2006 I received an ESR-Pacific Community Gugumatua Science and Technology Award. I hope to become a Āwhina mentor to help other aspiring Māori and Pacific Islanders to achieve their dream of an exciting career.