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  • Caroline plays her part in Christchurch rebuild

    But she is now a qualified quantity surveyor as comfortable working on building sites as she is back in the office crunching the numbers. 

    Caroline says it is not a profession she would have contemplated in China, where she grew up, but Christchurch’s rebuild inspired her to pursue a career in the construction industry and she is grateful for the freedom to be able to achieve her ambitions.  

    “It has been very rewarding to be part of the rebuild and to see the changes in the city. Bettabuilt, the company I work for, specialises in school rebuilds. When we finish a new school, you feel like you’ve done something you should be really proud of.”  

    And her parents are proud too. They have backed her career choice and know that the bold decision they made to send their only child to New Zealand for education was the right one.  

    New Zealand a safe place to study 

    Caroline says they had travelled widely as a family before making the decision that she would come to Burnside High School Te Kura o Waimairi-iri in Year 11. “They wanted me to be open-minded and take on new experiences and cultures,” she says. “They decided it would be good for me to study in another country with a different culture and chose New Zealand because it was a peaceful and safe country.” 

    Before she arrived, Caroline was set up with a “buddy”, a student from her school in Beijing who was already studying here and helped provide insights into life in New Zealand. She also took an online course prepared for international students.  

    “This made me feel more confident and familiar with what I was coming to which was important, because the culture and environment is quite different from my home country.” 

    But there were still some big adjustments to be made when it came to schooling. “All courses in China are set by the Education Department. In New Zealand, you have freedom to choose your own courses,” she says. “At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by the options available to me because I didn’t know exactly what I should take. But it was good that I had the opportunity to try courses that I was interested in.”  

    She also had to get used to a self-directed approach to learning. “It allows you to study in a way which suits you best, which was positive for me. And it means when you start work you have the ability and discipline to study by yourself. I have used methods I learned in high school and university to build my knowledge in the workplace.” 

    With more free time in her life, Caroline had the opportunity to play sport and even take on a part-time job which she says would not have been possible in Beijing. “That job really helped me because I got to practice English and gain more confidence talking to local people.” 

    New career opportunities 

    It was all part of an international education experience which Caroline believes is about much more than study.

    “When you’re an international student, you quickly acquire life skills and become much more independent.

    You also learn about other cultures because you are mixing with people from many different backgrounds. It was quite an eye-opener for me, but I enjoyed it.” 

    Once she determined her career choice, Caroline chose Ara Institute of Canterbury as the next step on her education pathway. Starting with a Diploma in Quantity Surveying, she followed it up with a Bachelor of Construction. Job and internship opportunities were regularly shared by their programme leader, illustrating the close ties with business. 

    The decision to study in New Zealand has taken Caroline on a journey she couldn’t have imagined when she arrived. “In China I would not be working in construction. I would probably have been working in finance or management,” she says. “The environment here changed me and gave me career options I would not have considered at home.” 

    In the past few months Caroline has secured residency and bought her first house, giving her a real sense of belonging. “I enjoy my work and my life in New Zealand. I love Christchurch and I’m proud to be contributing to the rebuild of the city.” 

    “I feel really happy that I came here.”  

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  • Mortal Engines offers ENZ opportunity to showcase education strengths in creative arts to prospective students

    The New Zealand premiere of Mortal Engines took place in Auckland last night and the film is released to New Zealand audiences from today.

    ENZ and the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) have partnered with Universal Pictures, MRC and Hungry City Limited on the film as part of the New Zealand Screen Production Grant 5% uplift.

    ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson says this partnership is a great opportunity to build awareness of New Zealand’s world-leading education system – particularly in the creative industries.

    “Mortal Engines marks a real shift in the New Zealand story we want to tell the world,” Mr McPherson says.

    “This film was made in New Zealand not because of the beauty of our landscapes but because of the depth of talent and level of technical sophistication available here.

    “The partnership allows us to showcase New Zealand’s education strengths in the creative arts. It supports our brand positioning of New Zealand as a modern, dynamic and innovative country with a lot to offer in the highly competitive international education market.”

    The last few years have already seen growing numbers of international students studying creative arts in New Zealand – 5,139 in 2017, up 24% on 2012.

    Principal photography took place in Wellington in early 2017, and involved more than 1000 New Zealanders including crew, cast and craftspeople. The film was shot at Stone Street and Avalon Studios and at a few small local exterior locations. Post production was completed by Park Road Post Production with visual effects work realised by Academy-Award winning company Weta Digital.

    Crew members included recent graduates (including several former international students): an assistant props designer who studied Industrial Design at Victoria University of Wellington, an apprentice editor who studied at South Seas Film School in Auckland, a film editor with a Bachelor of Digital Design from Auckland University of Technology, and a visual special effects capture booth photographer who studied animation at Yoobee School.

    Grant says the partnership has provided an opportunity for ENZ to tell graduates’ stories to other prospective international students through an integrated promotional campaign, including PR, digital marketing and social media activity across our channels which have more than one million followers.

    The campaign will begin in January 2019. There will be a Mortal Engines page on the Study in New Zealand website which will encourage prospective students to sign up to ENZ’s database. A series of emails will follow to this qualified audience providing information about a variety of design disciplines and courses related to filmmaking.

    “Our goal is to generate awareness of New Zealand’s specialised courses and hands-on learning style in the creative industries through sharing videos and profiles celebrating our graduates who worked on the film,” says Grant.

    “We look forward to getting the marketing campaign underway next month, and attracting more high-quality, creative international students to study in our institutions.”

    You can read the full media release here.

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