Source: Te Pukenga
Jayden Houghton and Isamaeli Poasa from NMIT Te Pūkenga both received the Prime Minister’s Scholarship and will soon travel to Colombia and China respectively for six-week internships. Jayden is still finding out what company he will be matched with in Colombia but has had consistent communication since discovering he was a scholarship winner.
He feels confident about what is expected during his six weeks in the vibrant, tourist city where he will stay.
“I like to take any opportunity I can and to do an internship on the other side of the world is such a unique and special chance,” Jayden says.
He knows that there will be little time for sightseeing as he will be straight into his internship and can’t wait to see how different cultures do things.
“I hope to learn a lot from the cultural experiences they have planned. If you want to be a leader or a business owner, cultural understanding is very important,” he says.
Jayden studies IT at NMIT and has already wowed kaiako (tutors) with his talent. He created the official website for Post Memory, a project led by Creative Industries Support Coordinator, Sarah Arnold, who said Jayden’s professionalism, eye for detail and commitment to the project was outstanding. Isamaeli (Sam) Poasa, originally from Samoa, will be travelling to China in December. Sam studies civil engineering at NMIT and previously owned a business installing fibre in Nelson.
“Civil engineering is my passion,” he says. “My previous business opened up this world for me, and with my sons as motivation, I wanted to improve myself.”
Sam says his scholarship win has boosted his confidence and let him know he is in the right place.
“For me, being accepted into this scholarship was like being selected for the All Blacks. It’s massive.”
Sam is determined not to come back empty-handed from his six-week internship so is preparing himself as best he can.
“I am taking mentoring and have approached a few local businesses to see what they think I should look into when I’m in China,” he says.
“I want to bring something back to my community.”
He is looking forward to learning about the culture, making connections for his future, and seeing the scale of the architecture. If you would like more information about our available scholarships, you can visit our website.
