Wintec students set to experience business in China
From left, Wintec international director Jason Matangi and scholarship recipients Chanatip Chatchawalit, Andrew Murray, Hanjun Nakauchi and Jack Hawker.
Four more Wintec students are preparing to embark on a learning experience of a lifetime as recipients of prestigious Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia.
The group of third year business students will set off for Tianjin University of Technology and Education in September, where they will spend five months studying Chinese language.
They join fellow Wintec students, Mason Holloway and Christopher Singh, who will also head to China in September to study at Chengdu University as second-time recipients of the prestigious scholarships.
The students, Jack Hawker, Chanatip Chatchawalit, Andrew Murray and Hanjun Nakauchi, make up part of a wider group of tertiary students from across New Zealand heading to educational institutes around Asia.
They will also complete work experience for PetroChina, one of the country’s largest oil and gas companies, and likely have the opportunity to teach English.
Andrew, 28, and Chanatip, 24, were both excited about the opportunities the experience could bring to their future careers.
“I’m really hoping to gain some business relationships over there, as well as some personal connections,” said Andrew.
“I’m looking forward to bringing home some ideas that I can put into practise here and representing Wintec and New Zealand to the best of my ability,” said Chanatip.
Jack, 25, said he was motivated to apply for the overall cultural experience.
“The opportunity to experience the culture while actually living there is huge.”
Hanjun, 20, agreed.
“We’ve all been learning basic Chinese but this experience will be an opportunity to learn the language in their environment.”
Wintec’s international director, Jason Matangi said an experience like this would be invaluable to the students.
“Encouraging students to study abroad is an important part of our internationalisation strategy and we’re thrilled our students have been given this opportunity. It will allow them to bring back to New Zealand a new international perspective and global connections while experiencing the Chinese culture first-hand.”
The students were chosen for their academic strength and personal attributes including independence, initiative, maturity, confidence and their ability to represent New Zealand positively.
The Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia are funded by the New Zealand government and administered by Education New Zealand. They were established in 2013 and have since enabled more than 1000 New Zealand students to experience an international education in Asian countries.
