How did you find the transition from St Cuthberts College to Uni Life?
Really exciting. During my first year at uni, I lived in the O’Rorke Uni accommodation which I would really recommend socially. As you could imagine, at first it was quite hard to balance work and play, but I think that's something that comes with time and experience. When I began studying at uni I fretted so much about which courses to take, originally I was enrolled in a Law conjoint with Psychology and Politics. I felt a bit lost, however, through studying such a range of papers I was able to discover my passion for environmental governance and corporate citizenship. My current studies in Design, Psychology and Environmental Science allow me to focus on these passions and approach global issues from an exciting angle. Overall, the main advice I would to those in high school choosing your courses is - whatever you choose isn’t going to be the be all end all of your life. I encourage you to have fun and explore your passions, university is a time of personal growth and discovery for everyone.
What drove you to pursue design seriously?
I was always intrigued by design and I first took it on a whim in year 12 at school and now it’s become such a huge part of my life. Creating beautiful things quickly turned into a passion of mine and I continued to push myself by completing the NCEA Scholarship course. After completing high school I was overwhelmed with joy to find that I had not only gained the scholarship but was also recognized as an outstanding scholar in design.
After a year at university enrolled in a Law, Politics and Psychology conjoint degree I felt uninspired and didn’t enjoy where my future was headed and needed a change. In late December of 2019, I made a difficult decision, to apply for enrolment in the design school and put aside my Law degree. And I am so glad I did. I have since gotten back into my creative groove and am excited for where the future will take me!
Why design and your conjoint?
I think my design inspirations were largely influenced by my mother. She valued creating a beautifully designed space in the home and I grew up surrounded by German/ Scandinavian designs and colour-coordinated books in bookshelves.
I think the great thing about this degree is that it’s built to cater to many diverse disciplines. No matter what area you are interested in, you will gain an invaluable foundational understanding of design and can then choose to specialise depending on which electives you study. This is also why design is great to do with a conjoint, you can choose electives to complement your other degree. For me, that's focused on person-centred and sustainable design.
Now it’s almost like everything I look at around me has some aspect of design- whether it’s a chair, or the classroom structure or the education system as a whole. Design is so vital to the way our world works.
Image: By Clara Schroeder
How have you found it so far? What do you enjoy most?
It’s been super exciting and challenging so far in the best way possible. The design course had not only improved my creative drive but also my technical skill-set. I am very grateful to have undergone training in the Design school fabrication lab for equipment other designers would kill to have access to. I am constantly striving to create my best work rather than just satisfying assessment criteria, taking my work beyond the classroom to use in my portfolio for future employers. My skill set now involves laser cutting, circuit building, soldering, 3D printing and website design.
My favourite aspect of the course it that it's structured to be social and collaborative allowing you to make heaps of friends, not only with your peers but also with the lecturers, tutors and technicians. You aren’t isolated in comparison to other subjects I’ve taken. Additionally, the teachers are genuinely passionate and want their students to succeed. This is by far the most excited I’ve been to do assignments… A year ago I would never have used those words in the same sentence. I’ve also really enjoyed the number of resources poured into this degree. You really feel that you’re in a cutting edge degree which is so much more innovative and contemporary than design offered at other universities.
How did COVID impact you, your fellow students and the teaching team?
To be honest, adapting to the coronavirus and online classes just seemed like another design challenge, like the ones we problem-solve for in class. The design school did an amazing job going online. I guess online classes have only made me more anxious to get back into uni and start building the projects I've worked on in the fabrication lab.
What can you see yourself pursuing in the future?
Realistically I can see myself using the technical skills I have acquired throughout future internships. Ideally, my future would involve brand mentorships and my aspirations as a designer are to work in environmental governance and corporate citizenship to nurture a vision of sustainability.
One of my dream goals as a designer is to work with the MIT Media Lab and designer Neri Oxman to fuse together my skills with engineering and science to make cutting edge technologies and solutions for a sustainable future.
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