Former Te Puke High School head girl Ashleigh Ngow speaking at the Royal Society Powering Potential Presentations evening in Wellington.
Former Te Puke High School head girl Ashleigh Ngow speaking at the Royal Society Powering Potential Presentations evening in Wellington.
A former Te Puke High School head girl has made a big impression at Waikato University.
Ashleigh Ngow left school in 2018 and began tertiary study last year.
Her image is one of those that has been used by the university's marketing team to promote the university, with billboards on campus part of the campaign.
''I was emailed by a lady in the student services division - she was scouting students and thought she'd ask me if I'd be part of the campaign and I said 'yeah that's all right' and we went around and took some photos and asked about my degree and the next minute I was on the prospectus."
With social media also part of the campaign, Ashleigh says her photo can pop up anywhere and give her a surprise.
''Then I found the Bachelor of Environmental planning which is a degree that revolves around resource management and environmental planning.
"So, planning for cities and planning for urban places, but also looking at the way we manage our resources and look after the environment. Within the degree, it covers all of the bases - it looks at public policy, social policy, geography, Māori studies as well, so it was the whole lot in one degree.
''I don't know why I didn't find out about it sooner, but I switched degrees and I'm really glad I did.''
She says she loves the diversity of the course.
''It's a really topical degree too so we are always learning about things that are happening in New Zealand and in the wider world today.
''You get a good mix of people in the degree as well, people from different backgrounds, but who care about the same things you do as well."
Unlike many students who headed home, Ashleigh stayed in Hamilton during lockdown.
''Everyone felt it was a bit strange because it was so different, but it was okay. I didn't mind it, but obviously the face to face interaction bouncing ideas off other students was a bit challenging.
''We had a group of people staying at the flat with us so we managed to keep ourselves busy during that time and to keep the university work going which as really good.''
Ashleigh says her time at Te Puke High School had a huge influence on where she is today.
''I think all of the stuff I was involved in in high school, including a lot of the environmental stuff like volunteering outside of school, and also the stuff I learned in school and spending time with teachers who were invested in helping me and interested in the same things as me really helped me.
''At the time I suppose I didn't know how it was helping me to figure out who I was and to figure out the stuff I was interested in doing, but once you do find something that feels right you connect the dots up and it's ''Oh yeah, this is something I enjoyed in high school and I'm doing it now'.''
She says she still has valuable connections with some of her high school teachers who still support her with references and catch up with her to see how she is going at university.
Last summer Ashleigh worked at Bay of Plenty Regional Council as a coastal planning summer student.
''That helped direct me into where I thought I might be going with my planning degree, and I grew up in Maketū which is a coastal village so that was very relevant for me.''
She is also about to start a part-time job working for Waikato DHB looking at the implementation of sustainable initiatives at Waikato Hospital.
''That will be a new experience in itself and if I enjoy that, I might go down that route. I'll try these things and see what sticks. Even postgrad study might be an option.''
