Tamati Rakena - MEd
For Tamati, the Kupe Leadership Scholarship will further assist him to pursue his dreams within education, beyond teaching.
“Mōku ake, he huarahi tēnei [karahipi] hei akiaki i ahau ki te whakapuāwai i ōku ake pūkenga. He momo kahukura tēnei karahipi hei hāpai i taku rere i roto i tēnei ao o te mātauranga, ā, mei kore ake ko tēnei karahipi kua puku noa iho taku noho. Tā te mea kua whakawhiwhia au ki tēnei karahipi, kua whai wāhi au ki te tū hei māngai, hei kanohi mō ōku hapū, marae, iwi anō hoki.
“He nui ngā pūkenga o ia tangata, nō reira me whātoro atu koe hei whakapiki ake i te kounga o ērā pūkenga hei taonga mō te marea. Kia aro tonu tātou katoa ki te timotimo haere i ngā hua o te mātauranga, ā, i te nuinga o te wā kei ōku whakaaro te kōrero e mea ana, e kore rawa te puna o mātauranga e mimiti.
“Personally this pathway or scholarship will help to develop my personal skills. The scholarship can be described as a set of feathers that will further assist me to pursue my dreams within education. Because I am one of the 15 recipients of The Kupe Leadership Scholarship, I feel that I have an opportunity and responsibility to represent my hapū, marae and tribe.
“It was in my very first year of study when I realised that I wanted to be more than a teacher and that I actually enjoyed studying and learning new things. Everyone has a set of skills that they can contribute to society and in that sense we must always strive to better our yesterdays for the sake of our tomorrows.”
Tāmati Rākena is a Master of Education student based at Tai Tokerau Campus. He is also a recipient of the 2019 University of Auckland Kupe Leadership Scholarship, which aims to develop and nurture leaders who have a desire to serve and a big vision for Aotearoa New Zealand.