Even before he got to university, Northlander Ezekiel Raui had racked up a lifetime of achievements. As head boy at Taipa College, Ezekiel created a leadership academy and a peer support programme. He visited the Beehive to share his ideas, and was part of a youth delegation to Washington DC – where he attended the first ever Tribal Youth Gathering at the White House, and met President Obama.
He's won a string of awards, including the Young Achiever of the Year at the 2016 Matariki Awards, and a prestigious Ngārimu VC and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Scholarship.
"I chose to do a Bachelor of Business degree because I like to know how the world ticks, why the economy goes up and down, why people think what they think. A lot of people don’t consider that – when they think business they think financials, accounting – but to me it is a subject that teaches us how to solve real-world problems."
Ezekiel says the wrench of moving away from whānau almost stopped him going to university, but Massey’s support staff and lecturers made him feel at home. He enjoyed the small class sizes and the ability to build a relationship with lecturers.
"The staff here really made it easy for me to settle in and do what I love to do."
As for those weighing up going to university, Ezekiel has some simple advice.
"Don’t stress if you don’t have your life planned out – the beauty about university is that you find your way. You find what you love, you find what you don’t particularly like and from that I guess you create your path forward."