Kia ora and welcome to the June edition of We are OPAIC

This month you can read about some of the most recent academic and social events we’ve held for students including Excellent Scholars and a wine-tasting experience. We’ll also tell you about some of the events our Employability Team has put on over the past month including a tech industry event that attracted students from a range of study areas.

Talk of the Campus

Celebrating our top scholars

A big congratulations to the students who received Excellent Scholars Awards and Special Awards at our recent ceremony and lunch. Our Excellent Scholars were Anastasiia Mogileva, Hong Liu, Wahalathanthrige Manishee Venumi, Jianbo Wei, Ahmed Abdelfattah Mohamed Ahmed, Abigail Taraya, Windy Dharmawan, and Steven Lian-Ju Dwyer. Our Special Award recipients were Junhan Cui, Liman Wu, and Hoai Trinh Nguyen. Check out the photos here.

Students enjoy winery and beach tour

Students had a great time visiting some popular West Auckland wineries and sampling their wines at the end of May. They also had the opportunity to check out Muriwai Beach, famous for its black volcanic iron-rich sands. Our Student Success Team partnered with the team at Action Tours to offer the experience.

Taking care of our campus

We strive to provide a clean, safe, and comfortable environment for all of our learners and staff. However, we’ve recently experienced incidents of mess, damage, and vandalism on campus. Please do all you can to keep your classrooms, kitchen, and bathrooms tidy. Please report any incidents of mess, damage, or vandalism to staff as soon as possible.

Matariki holiday approaching

We have another long weekend to look forward to this July. Matariki is a large cluster of stars, also known as the Pleiades. The predawn rising of Matariki in the mid-winter sky marks the changing of the seasons and the beginning of the Māori New Year. In 2022, New Zealand held its first public holiday to celebrate Matariki. The date of the public holiday changes from year to year, with this year’s falling on Friday 14 July.

Join us for some basketball 

Keen to get some exercise, have some fun, and hone your basketball skills? An OPAIC group plays three-on-three basketball every Wednesday evening at 5.30pm at the Queen’s Wharf Basketball Court. Contact the Level 1 Helpdesk for more information.

Employability Corner

Tech Industry Event 

This month we held our Tech Industry event where over 50 of our students from various disciplines, including IT, Business Information Systems, and Applied Management, had an extraordinary opportunity to engage with esteemed industry speakers from diverse sectors. We had three amazing speakers, Ryan O'Connell, James Hippolite, and Anuvindh Sankaravilasam.

Ryan took the lead, emphasizing the power and significance of self-learning and continuous upskilling to stand out in the competitive marketplace. Next, James shared his personal journey through the IT industry, providing inspiration to all attendees. His story sparked a thought-provoking discussion on maintaining a healthy work-life balance—a topic of great importance in today's fast-paced world. Wrapping up the event, Anuvindh offered practical advice on achieving a six-figure income, presenting valuable resources for both IT and non-IT students seeking to enhance their cloud tech skills. His expertise and guidance were truly invaluable.

The event was led by our very own Aleksandra Skakun. It was her first time acting as master of ceremonies. Aleksandra's confident and skillful handling of the evening demonstrated the power of stepping out of our comfort zones, leading to exceptional outcomes.

The event also provided a platform to showcase projects from some of our brightest IT students. The impressive works of Riya Vishnoi, Kazuhisa Kondo, and Misun Hwang were featured, ranging from a visually stunning website showcasing Italian cuisine to an intriguing maze game and an innovative web application for tailored CVs.

The event proved to be a profound journey of learning and discovery for our students, leaving an atmosphere of enthusiasm and engagement. Stay tuned for more exciting opportunities on the horizon!

Immigration Workshop 

This month we hosted two Immigration workshops on campus to help students better understand their current visas and get a better idea of how to prepare for the future. Anastasia Sherry from Immigration New Zealand joined us on campus to present both workshops.

The first workshop covered student visa responsibilities and working rights. She also went over post-study work visa requirements as well as tips for keeping safe while working under a student visa.

In the next workshop, Anastasia covered different residency pathways. These included the green list, accredited employer work visa, and upcoming changes to residency pathway visas. At both workshops, she had a Q&A session to answer student questions. PDF versions of the slides were made available in the weekly employability newsletter. If you would like access to the slides, then please email us at opaicemployability@op.ac.nz

Recruitment Information Session 

The Employability Team facilitated a recruitment information session on campus with Damian Treanor from Healthsource. Healthsource has a multitude of opportunities available, including procurement, supply chain management, and logistics. Both postgraduate and undergraduate Applied Management students attended. Eight of the attendees were selected to move forward, with the recruiter preparing their applications.

GOT End of Block Event

The Green Office Toitu (GOT) recently hosted an End of Block event that showcased the remarkable dedication and enthusiasm of students in promoting sustainability on campus. From thought-provoking speeches to an engaging Green Selfie Challenge, the event served as a platform for inspiration and the pursuit of a greener future. 

Our two GOT interns, Trinh and Vivi also each gave a speech sharing their highlights from the block. Trinh also said goodbye, as this was her last block with us. We ended the event with two student project showcases, namely the introduction of the Sustainable Practitioner Programme Mapping and a Carbon Footprint project. We are excited to see where these projects lead and how they can help promote sustainable action on campus, so that we can all become sustainability practitioners. The event was a great note to end the block on.

Rural Literacy Trust Community Work

This month Green Office Toitu partnered with the Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust, with Trinh and Vivi working hard to help them with their promotional materials to showcase their services. The Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting literacy and numeracy in rural and isolated areas.

The Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust offers free tuition to individuals regardless of their location, using phone or Skype sessions to overcome distance barriers. Their commitment to reaching those in need knows no bounds, with no New Zealander deemed too far to help.

Through this collaboration, Green Office Toitu and the Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust are working together to spread awareness about the Trust's mission and services. By combining efforts, we aim to make a meaningful impact in improving literacy and numeracy skills in rural and isolated communities.