Spotlight on staff success at Auckland graduation

A total of 1,315 joined Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s alumni whānau, with 34 doctorates and 412 master’s degrees conferred across seven ceremonies.

Among the successful graduates were 13 Massey staff, who between them achieved one bachelor’s degree, six master’s and six doctorates.

Lara Rangitaawa – Bachelor of Science (Human Nutrition)

Describing herself as someone who is always keen to grow and add to her pēke (bag), Lara Rangitaawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngai Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Aitanga ā Māhaki, has a career history that spans over 10 years in the hospitality industry in Brisbane, including as a qualified chef and a café and catering business owner.

She’s also a qualified personal trainer, which taught her how much she liked helping people navigate their lives. She says it felt fitting to study a Bachelor of Science with a focus on nutrition.

“The first year was difficult. As a mature student, I found it tough to take everything at such a fast pace, but I whizzed through my first semester and found my second semester was harder. Biochemistry absolutely blew my mind, but it was necessary, and I studied my butt off!”

Ms Rangitaawa began working for Massey three years ago, starting as a receptionist at the recreation centre where she enjoyed making connections within the university and the free membership to the centre. In her third year, she transitioned into the Students Association as a Māori Student Representative, which she found fulfilling as she got to create events for Māori tauira. She is now working as Māori Kaitautoko (Māori student support) for the College of Health.

“This job is amazing as I get to help Māori tauira navigate their way through their first year of university, whether that be through academic advice, tutoring, pre-reading, writing schedules, you name it! What I love most about my mahi is helping. I hope for a world where Māori are thriving!”

Ms Rangitaawa says balancing her work and study throughout her third year was tricky, but she learned a lot about herself.

“In previous years it was hard balancing my life and made socialising almost impossible as I had to focus on work and study. My third year was my busiest time, where I was studying full-time and working part-time, while also being a student and class representative (and winning class rep of the year!), Snow Club vice president, taking on nutrition clients and doing an internship. It wasn’t always balanced, but I did it and I did it all while maintaining my grades.

“I’ve learned just how resilient I am, and I think I have a little bit more in me!”

Ayla Blaxall – Master of Nursing

After previously studying a Bachelor of Nursing, Ayla Blaxall was inspired to advance her nursing knowledge and care by continuing on with a Master of Nursing. In 2019, she joined Massey as a clinical teaching associate and worked her way into her current position as a Senior Tutor in the School of Nursing.

“I absolutely love my role, and working with students inspires me to be a better educator and a better nurse.”

Ms Blaxall says she found a way to balance the journey of simultaneously advancing her career and her studies.

“I am a hands-on learner and found I benefitted from applying my learning to events in my daily life, which consolidated the work I was doing. That being said, there were still quite a few long weekends and long nights in the university library with a takeaway of Eden Noodles to keep me going!

“One thing I have learned about myself during my time at Massey is how resilient I am!”

Joyce Manahi – Master of Counselling Studies

Joyce Manahi, Ngāti Porou, began her journey with Massey five years ago when she started a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Guidance to build upon her previous Bachelor of Teaching and Learning and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health.

“The more I worked in mahi wairua and indigenous teachings, the more I realised I needed to continue my education which brought me to Massey, as it stood out to me being a Te Tiriti-led university.”

Before starting her studies, Ms Manahi was approached by the programme leader who, recognising the value in her previous life skills and education, invited her to teach within the counselling programme. Now a Professional Clinician in the Institute of Education, Ms Manahi teaches the Culture and Counselling paper, supports within the Master of Counselling and will soon assist in the Counselling Practices and Principles paper in Semester Two. She says she loves the mahi of her role.

“I love teaching my paper as I get to work with whānau from diverse backgrounds, educating them on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and exploring their personal life experiences. I’m known as ‘the one who pokes the bear’ because I encourage my students to dive deep into their lived experiences, especially the challenging ones they may want to avoid. I remind them that if they are working in a counselling space with whānau who are mirroring similar experiences, it’s important they have worked on their own stuff so they can effectively support the person in front of them.”

Ms Manahi is affectionately known as Nanny Tokotoko among her students for sharing tikanga during noho marae visits. Balancing her roles as both student and teacher, she says it’s important to separate the two.

“When I’m a student, I’m a student and when I’m teaching, I’m teaching. The balance comes from good time management and planning ahead. It helps to have a supportive husband as well!”

Following her master’s, which focused on the implementation of Māori initiatives into counselling practices in Aotearoa, Ms Manahi is set to begin her PhD while still working full-time in the counselling programme and as a Rongoā practitioner. She says her biggest learning has been about boundaries.

“I’ve always given back to the community, so I’ve been learning my boundaries and when to say no. Knowing I need to pull back to focus on my PhD, completing it will see me helping more people and the wider whānau. Through the counselling programme I’ve learned that sometimes we think we’ve healed things, but we actually have to dive deep into ourselves and feel it on a soul level.”

Dr Chinthaka Atapattu – Doctor of Philosophy

Dr Chinthaka Atapattu had aspired to be a teacher since his childhood, but it was his final year of bachelor’s research at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, that ignited his passion for research. He found a way to combine these two dreams by becoming a lecturer, engaging in both teaching and research.

He began his time with Massey in 2020, starting his PhD within the School of Built Environment (SBE) just a month before the first COVID-19 lockdown. He initially took on the role of Marketing Assistant until 2021, when he became a tutor. In 2023, he joined the SBE team permanently and became a research officer for a CanConstructNZ project funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Now, he’s adding the role of Admission and Academic Planning Coordinator of the School of Built Environment to his repertoire and says he enjoys working with his team.

“The SBE staff have always supported my studies and career. I enjoy working with them as a team, and it’s because of that strong team that we were able to host two international conferences one after the other in November last year.”

Dr Atapattu says that starting his PhD a month into lockdown proved challenging.

“I only knew a few people here since I was new to the country, but fortunately the School arranged several online networking meetings for students’ wellbeing. My supervisor Dr Niluka Domingo and my other colleagues always took care of me as a new student.”

Working in the infrastructure industry for 10 years prior to starting his PhD helped Dr Atapattu with his study, which involved developing a conceptual cost model for road projects in New Zealand at the pre-design stage.

“I noticed that the conceptual estimations are always poor due to the lack of proper mechanism, which leads to significant cost overruns. For road projects, that can be challenging as they are mainly publicly funded. My model helps to provide a proper mechanism and reduce the cost overruns.”

To be a student, teacher and researcher, Dr Atapattu says time management is key.

“I’ve found doing a job while studying can be hard if you don’t plan and manage your time properly, so I always make sure to plan ahead to manage both roles efficiently. I’ve learned that anything is possible so long as we put our mind and strength to do it.”

Other graduate staff include:

• Deborah Casano-Bally – Master of Science (Conservation Biology)
• Phuong Nguyen – Master of Finance (Financial Analytics and Research)
• Marianne Gorter – Master of Applied Linguistics
• Jason Downes – Master of Education
• Dr Omer Nazir – Doctor of Philosophy
• Dr Simon Moore – Doctor of Philosophy
• Dr Maria Casale – Doctor of Philosophy
• Dr Robin van der Sanden – Doctor of Philosophy
• Dr Wisnu Endro – Doctor of Philosophy