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PASIFIKA
STUDENTS ON THE PATH TO SUCCESS |
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Courtesy MIT |
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Adding true
Pasifika zest to savvy new business ideas helped a group of students
launch their studies with scholarships at Manukau Institute of
Technology.
Six bright Pasifika students, who won scholarships at the Plantation
Business Challenge in September 2005, are about to complete their
first semester of study at MIT.
During the first semester, the students have made new friends,
strengthened their cultural identity and challenged their
perceptions.
As the students look forward to the new opportunities the second
half of the year will bring, they reflect on how the scholarships
have changed their lives.
The Plantation Business Challenge was launched last year by MIT,
Manukau City Council, AUT and the Pacific Business Trust to increase
Pasifika student participation in business entrepreneurship.
The five-day business competition is aimed at senior secondary
school students from the Counties Manukau region. Teams of four
students were challenged to create and present innovative business
ideas, with a Pasifika flavour, which were assessed against
real-world criteria.
MIT awarded four scholarships at the event.
Bachelor of Business student Ofeina Langi, who attended Sir Edmund
Hillary Collegiate, received the largest scholarship from MIT at the
challenge - the $3500 Frangipani Scholarship for an outstanding
individual.
At the competition, Ofeina led a team that designed buttons
featuring scents and symbols from each Pacific island. Team-mate
Hallelujah Tupuivao won the Heilala Scholarship of $2000 from MIT
and is studying a Certificate in Business at MIT.
Coming to MIT is helping her pursue her goal of one day running her
own business; it has also brought her closer to her cultural
heritage, says Ofeina.
“MIT is such a multicultural campus. I am a member of the Tongan
Association and we are going to Hamilton at the end of July to meet
with Tongan Associations from other tertiary institutions.” Ofeina
is delighted with her decision to come to MIT after winning |
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Chris Lautua (MIT Gardenia Scholarship winner) with Beverley
Papeau and Ofeina Langi (MIT Frangipani Scholarship winner). |
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Leilani Pomare (MIT Teuila Scholarship winner) of the MIT
Plantation Business Challenge.
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The Plantation Business Challenge launched to increase Pasifika
student participation in business entrepreneurship. |
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the scholarship, which
has covered full tuition costs for the year.
“I love it here. We have heaps of time with lecturers. It is close
to home, so I don’t have to take the bus or worry about parking.”
Chris Lautua, a Bachelor of Applied Communication student, won the
$2000 Gardenia Scholarship from MIT as leader of a group from De La
Salle College that proposed to bottle and export fresh coconut juice
from each Pacific Island.
Chris reckons he will soon have the skills to help companies dig
themselves out of awkward public relations situations. “I want to be
a communications consultant in a top corporate organisation, such as
Telecom.”
As a student ambassador, Chris is very active in the social scene at
MIT.
“MIT is a tight-knit community and it is easy to meet people here.
Many of my friends at the large universities say they feel isolated
there.”
Meanwhile, two other students, Beverley Papeau and Munesh Naidu from
Mangere College, came to MIT after their group was one of two
overall winning teams. The group came up with an idea for
traditional Pasifika flavoured chicken stuffing and won an $8000
scholarship, which was divided between the four members of the
group.
Her $2000 scholarship will earn Beverley her first qualification
this semester - a Certificate in Business Administration and
Computing. And she is not stopping there - Beverley will embark on
the Diploma of Business in Semester 2.
“The scholarship really helped me. Without it I would probably be
working, while looking at doing a business-related foundation
course,” she says.
Fellow former Mangere College student Leilani Pomare, who received
the $2000 Teuila Scholarship from MIT, is enrolled in the
Certificate in Advanced Travel Studies.
Taking part in the challenge was a baptism of fire for Leilani, as
she had little knowledge of the business world. “I did not even take
business as a subject at school, but I got my head around it.”
Overall the scholarship winners agree MIT’s multicultural
environment infuses the campus with a unique, friendly and exciting
atmosphere.
And they have some words of advice for other students thinking of
studying further or competing in the Plantation Business Challenge.
“Go for every opportunity you get and follow your dreams,” says
Leilani.
Chris adds: “Dream big and think outside the square”, while Beverley
offers: “You do not have to be the brightest business student to
give it a go. It is a good opportunity for anyone.”
And from Ofeina: “What have you got to lose? You may win a
scholarship.”
MIT Pasifika liaison, Terri Leo-Mauu, says the underlying philosophy
of the Plantation Business Challenge is to grow tomorrow’s Pacific
business leaders today.
“This is a unique opportunity for senior high school students to
take a business idea and develop it under the guidance of skilled
professionals and educators.”
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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