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Events

• 2011 Āwhina Alumni Careers Evening
• Keeping Āwhina Strong - first Āwhina Alumni Careers Evening
• Inaugural Pasifika Post-Graduate Hui
• Āwhina @ International Careers Conference
• Āwhina, As Seen on TV
• Science and Technology Youth Project (STYP 07)
• Study@Vic

2011 Āwhina Alumni Careers Evening

The 2011 Āwhina Alumni hosted Careers’ Evening held on 6 October was a huge success.  Sixty three presenters (including Āwhina Alumni) from
33 different organisations ranging from public to private sector, small to large companies covering the STEAD disciplines attended.  

This annual event brings on-campus Āwhina whānau members together with Alumni and others in the workplace keen to help them step into that
space. Students find out about employment opportunities and skills needed for employment directly from employers and people ‘on the ground’.

Guest speakers Travis (Lifetime Design) and Tawera (Team One Ltd) gave us the real oil with their unpretentious straight talking and off-beat
humour.  They also hung around for photos and autographs. 

Presenters did a great job too.  They were approachable and informative. They answered questions all night and provided freebies.   

Hats off to everyone who helped our students get ‘work ready’.  It takes real commitment after a long working day to get on a plane/into a
car/onto a bus or train/walk up the hill and speak to 196 Āwhina students for three hours. 

Last year’s event was a winner; this one was even better. See you all in 2012!

Keeping Āwhina Strong - first Āwhina Alumni Careers Evening

Over 150 Āwhina mentors and mentees attended the first Āwhina Alumni Careers Evening which was held on 15th September.

Organised by our newly established Āwhina alumni, the night was a chance for us to get an insight into possible career paths
and it was so exciting to see all the work opportunities that our studies can lead to. Who knew maths was really important for
virtual design!

We had a number of very interesting guest speakers and presenters, including Business NZ CEO Phil O’Reilly, who talked about the
importance of the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and also of the need for Māori and Pacific
leaders in these areas.

Students got the chance to speak and mingle with a number of prominent professionals from all around New Zealand - from Weta
workshop Virtual Studio Leader J.P. Lewis to the MacDiarmid Institute’s Kate McGrath.

The range of presenters was great and we’ve had heaps of positive feedback!

• “The evening was a great success... opportunity to connect with people face-to-face was very valuable” – Louise (TeachNZ)
• “I liked the real accounts on what employers are looking for in graduates. The speakers were really interesting” – Morgan
  (BSc, Biology and Applied Statistics)
• “Very inspirational to hear from past mentors and what they are getting up to now” – Kelly (PhD, Biology)

The evening was an Āwhina alumni initiative. Alumni are keen to extend Āwhina into the workplace.

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Inaugural Pasifika Post-Graduate Hui

On the 23rd September, three of our senior mentors presented their PhD research at the Inaugural Pasifika Post-Graduate Hui.
Their presentations were well delivered, interesting and well received by the audience. Āwhina whānau members
were there to support and actively participated in the discussions for all the talks given. We are very proud of them.

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Āwhina @ International Careers Conference

Āwhina was invited by TPK to have a stall at the International Careers Conference held at the Michael Fowler Centre from the 19th-21st of November.
Delegates from all around the world stopped to check out the stand and Āwhina mentors enjoyed the opportunity to meet with them and explain what Āwhina is all
about. People were very interested in reading the Cybrospace profiles (Āwhina’s journey to success).

Big thanks to TPK for providing us with this fantastic opportunity.

Āwhina, As Seen on TV

Check out our Mentors in the CSI Porirua story shown on Tagata Pasifika on the 12 July on TV ONE.

Thanks to Aaron Taouma, the team at Tagata Pasifika and tvnz.co.nz for making this happen!

Science and Technology Youth Project (STYP 07)
5 July, 2007

Science and Technology (S&T) are part of everyday life and both require creativity and flair. There was plenty of that shown by the 35 Pacific pupils from Porirua intermediate schools who participated in the 2007 Science and Technology Youth Project (STYP 07). This was a unique 100% ‘home grown’ event; all participants and presenters were from Porirua.

‘Healthy Choices’ activities were a big hit with the pupils. Pacific Health Service Porirua promoted a clever smoke free message, rugby players talked about good health and fitness for sporting success, Awhina mentors covered commitment and perseverance for education success and the need for a Pacific health workforce, ESR Kenepuru staff turned pupils into forensic scientists and a Tagata Pasifika film crew captured the moment (click on the link and search for CSI Porirua) and ‘Black Box’ entertained and performed their song promoting S & T. Pupils produced stories and posters and conducted a survey. They presented their work to family and invited guests on the last day.

STYP 07 was sponsored by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) and the Faculty of Science at Victoria University and held over four days of the school holidays. “North’s Rugby Club” headquarters was chosen as the base to bring together sporting and S & T excellence.

All pupils gave the project a big tick. Watch this space for STYP 08!

ESR staff welcome STYP 07 pupils to their tour of the ESR research facilities.

Pupils show off the winning logo design by Gabrielle Godinet (third from the right, bottom row.)

Thanks to the Porirua boys, Tamati Ellison and Serge Lilo (2nd and 4th from left) from the Wellington Hurricanes and the Wellington Lions rugby team for lending a hand on the final day of the programme.

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Study@Vic

The Awhina display was about success, positive attitudes, bright balloons and smiley faces. Mentors were kept busy answering questions, running competitions and collecting contact details of potential Awhina students.

Awhina is about Maori and Pacific people working together to build a bright future for themselves, their families and communities. So if you're coming to Vic to study science, technology, engineering, architecture or design and you want to be successful get into Awhina whanau!

2008

2007
24 August 2007

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