Scholarship 2009
Winners
Alicia Gleeson The former Opotiki College student was named the overall winner and awarded the $5,000 tertiary scholarship from the Mike Pero Mortgages Foundation to assist with her studies at Otago University in 2009.
Alicia is loving life down in Dunedin! As she is from Opotiki; a small town in the Bay of Plenty area, she had no choice but to live away from home. Alicia lives in Arana College, which is a Halls of Residence in Dunedin. She says it’s an amazing place to live – “it’s just like living in a hotel!”
She says her studies are certainly keeping her busy, but she finds the work stimulating and it gives her a new perspective on life.
Her scholarship from Mike Pero Mortgages has proved invaluable; Alicia used it to pay for her accommodation at Arana college. This has taken the stress out of life for her, knowing that she doesn’t have to worry about her accommodation for the whole year.
Alicia has been very busy with assignments – she had three due all in one day! She’s already had one of those assignments back and was very happy with the 90% she got for Statistics.
Life down in Otago, and University life in particular, is everything she thought it would be, and more. The one thing she loves about her new life in Dunedin is that there is always something happening!
Alicia would definitely recommend applying for the Mike Pero Mortgages scholarship as it has made her life so much easier and allows her to concentrate on her studies. She has met a number of people who applied for the Mike Pero Mortgages scholarship and missed out. They have all been very pleased for her, but at the same time they’ve been very envious!
Kiri Diack Former head girl at Aurora College in Invercargill, Kiri Diack was awarded a Mike Pero Mortgages scholarship of $2,500. Kiri is studying for a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree at Otago University.
Living at one of the Halls of Residence, Kiri is a first year representative on the Student Executive.
Kiri has noticed that the workload is “way bigger” than it was in her last year of high school. She says she is coping ok so far, but admits she doesn’t have a lot of time for the social side of life. Study groups have been set up within the Halls of Residence, which Kiri has found very helpful. She says it’s really important to find the right balance.
“There are a lot of people trying to get into medicine so the competition is huge,” says Kiri. But Kiri hasn’t let this put her off, she is still very determined and motivated to do medicine.
The $2,500 scholarship from Mike Pero Mortgages has been a huge help to Kiri. She used it to put towards her University fees. At University, when people find out she received a Mike Pero Mortgages scholarship, they say “I applied for one of those. That’s a national scholarship. How come you got it?” “That reaction makes me feel very proud that my achievements have been recognised”, says Kiri.
Beaumyn Wihongi Beaumyn Wihongi had a financial head start to his tertiary education for 2009 after receiving a scholarship from the Mike Pero Mortgages Foundation.
The former Northland College student was awarded the $2,500 tertiary scholarship in 2008 to put towards his degree at the University of Waikato, commencing in 2009.
Beaumyn is thriving at Waikato University where he is studying for a Bachelor or Maori and Pacific Development, majoring in Te Reo Maori.
He has two assignments that have to be done every week and he doesn’t want to brag but is doing rather well and getting top marks.
Beaumyn is living with his Aunty in Hamilton and fitting in well. He has made “heaps of new mates” and is still striving to reach his goal to be a secondary school teacher.
The Mike Pero Mortgages Scholarship Programme has helped Beaumyn with the cost of his education while at Waikato University. He put all of his scholarship money on his fees. Beaumyn applied for eight scholarships and he was successful with two of them.
“It is really worth applying for as many scholarships as you can, because university is expensive and every little bit helps. I would have found it difficult to attend University without these scholarships which is why I looked at all avenues of assistance”
