Careers Visit to AUT Aspire Event - Thursday 14th May 

Purpose: To encourage and inspire Māori & Pasifika students to consider university study.

An inspiring guest speaker sharing real stories about backing yourself and succeeding at university

• Interactive workshops:
  • Demystifying university (how it all works and pathways available to students)
  • Financial literacy & StudyLink (money, budgeting, and the support students can access)
  • Building resilience at university (managing challenges and thriving) 

Lopeti Kama - Year 11

Yesterday, I went with my school group to AUT Aspire. We had 3 workshops which were: Growth Mindset, Financial Literacy, and Demystifying University.
Financial Literacy showed us the average cost for Uni fees (tuition, rent, etc.), scholarships, student funding, and they explained how we could save more money using KiwiSaver.
The workshop for Growth Mindset focused on helping us make decisions and set goals for what we’d like to achieve and to break free from a fixed mindset, believing that anything can be done if we put our minds to it.
Finally, our last workshop was “Demystifying University”. This workshop helped clear up what Uni was about, the definitions of what some “Uni lingo” were, what AUT offers compared to other universities around New Zealand, and how different it is to high school. One thing that stood out is the time to send Uni applications. Most tend to wait for their level 3 results before they send in their application, but we can send one in as soon as possible, since they also focus on students’ level 2 marks and references from teachers.
Overall, the experience was great and it really helped with clearing up what Uni was about. It The key things that I took away from the day was what financial help is available, when I should put my application in for Uni, and how I could develop a growth mindset. 

Te Rangikaheke Te Wao-Rangiuaia - Year 13

The trip to AUT was really eye opening and gave me a good insight of what AUT had to offer.
I like the workshops we got to experience that day. My favourite was the literacy workshop. It had so many good aspects. I enjoy socialising with other students, getting to know people and learning new things at the same time.
I recommended this to other students, just give it a try.

Lylah Baker - Year 13

I had the blessing of going to AUT with some other students from our school. It was an interesting experience going into a university I didn't know much about before getting there.
We were introduced to some of the topics they taught at AUT and what they have to offer us. I saw a lot of different people there who showed so much passion for what they love doing.
I like how some of the students who still attend AUT now, and even some who graduated, encouraged us to pursue a subject that will help us become what we want to be in the future.
It was a real eye opening experience, especially because time is going fast, and this was a reminder of the reality that comes after high school.