Success stories

Alyson is married with three children. She was a qualified hairdresser and make-up artist with her own business when she decided she needed a career change. Juggling family and study she knew would be challenging but was willing to do it for a better future for her children.

A nervous Alyson attended the New Start information evening with her husband as support and has never looked back. New Start gave Alyson a second chance at education. However it has been a financial struggle with Alyson’s husband working double shifts and overtime to support the family. This is the sacrifice Alyson and her husband are willing to make for the family.

“My iwi is Ngati Kahu, Ngapuhi and Ngati Kahungungu. I was born and bred in South Auckland and always wanted to have a career in law and now I can. New Start can set you up with what you need, if you have the courage to try – it doesn’t matter where you come from or your past educational experience. When you first start university you can feel like a small fish in a big ocean but New Start prepared me for this so the transition was easier. I never want to look back and say “What if”. Instead I will be able to say “I did”.
 

At 42, Latu Harper has a supportive husband, a 15 year old son and a 20 year work history in facilities administration under her belt. She has found it increasingly apparent that a tertiary qualification will help her along her chosen career path. Latu enrolled in New Start for Business so she could pursue a career in sustainable property development and management.

“You get to a certain age and you think changing is too hard, but change can be the most liberating thing in the world. Having been in the workforce for a long time I know what the reality is out there, so having the opportunity to gain a professional qualification means a great deal more than when I first left school.

The New Start programme gives you a taste of what University has to offer in a format that allows you to continuing working. This gives you a chance to get the cogs moving in your brain. Once you complete the New Start programme you will feel more confident and ready to embark on a University education. Stopping full time work to pursue a degree is definitely challenging, but I remind myself every day that I am in control of the next chapter of my life”.
 

Maggie has always set herself high goals, at one point running three marathons in three weeks in three different continents. After surgery on both knees and no longer being able to run, she began to reassess her life and think about new ventures. Studying to become a museum guide with no formal education qualifications was a great achievement for Maggie. She decided to pursue an academic qualification and enrolled in New Start.

“New Start gave me an insight into the realities of study. This learning experience is new for me but it will prepare me for university study in the future. I want to be independent and be a good role model for my sons – showing them that by practicing you become perfect”.
 

Marianne was working in the community sector in accounting but wanted more in life. Keen to explore new opportunities an uncle recommended New Start. She enrolled in New Start General, won a scholarship and was appointed class representative.

While she enjoys her study, balancing family, study and work is challenging. “My kids are really supportive of my study and they want to go to university one day. The reality of being a parent and student is you just get on with things. My children are my motivation.” Marianne hopes to pursue a future career in Law or Public Health for Maori.

She found part-time work with the Centre for Continuing Education as the Resource Management Act (RMA) Team Administrator.
 

Darrell Turner completed the New Start Arts programme in 2001. New Start helped Darren discover he had a thirst for knowledge in subjects such as Sociology, as well as practically equipping him for university study. In 2002, a confident Darren enrolled for the Bachelor of Arts programme which he completed. He graduated with a Master of Arts with First Class Honours.

“It would be easy to think, at this stage, that I must be some kind of natural born genius. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a young person, straight out of school in the late 1970s, I embarked on an illustrious pattern of train-wrecking anything to do with academic study, eventually giving it up as I thought I was too thick to handle ‘brainy stuff’. I ended up working as a support person in an office full of university-qualified professional people who could easily outwit me in any argument. Figuring that I had to do something about this, I half-entertained the idea of university study and enrolled in the New Start programme as a very nervous would-be mature student.

A decade on, I now teach at this University but have never forgotten where this journey started and how well the New Start programme prepared me for it. For that I am incredibly grateful to the New Start team and would recommend this programme to anyone contemplating university study.”
 

"I completed my Masters in Film, Television and Media Studies at The University of Auckland in 2002. I’d always known I wanted to carry on beyond my masters but didn’t feel I was ‘academic material’ and didn’t know what to do next towards a PhD.

"No one in my family has ever pursued an academic career before. After graduation I worked in various jobs in Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne learning many skills, but always knew I wanted to do more study at some stage. One of those jobs was as an image archivist at the New Zealand Herald newspaper (and a paper archivist at KPMG in Melbourne). Eighteen months ago I began working as a general (non academic) staff member at the University. The idea kept returning to me that I wanted to study part-time, and a topic related to archiving had occurred to me.

"I came to a one-day introductory postgraduate workshop last summer organised by the New Start team. There I learned about my study options, who to talk to about my specific area, what scholarships and grants might be available, supervisory relationships and more. I also found there were many new facilities and resources available I didn’t know about.

"I felt excited by the experience, and the team was happy for my husband to sit in on some of the talks so he knew what I would be undertaking if I began to study again. I enrolled part-time in my PhD in Film, Telecision and Media Studies in March, and have since received my first funding grant (which will enable me to carry out research in Wellington), been invited to speak at an international conference on my work and learned loads!

"I don’t find PhD study easy  but I know I’ve got lots of support from family, friends and the University. My department and my supervisors have been very supportive and always available to discuss my work."