IPU New Zealand is striving to put the uncertainties of the past few years behind it as students return to on-campus study. Photo / Satoshi Minami
IPU New Zealand is striving to put the uncertainties of the past few years behind it as students return to on-campus study. Photo / Satoshi Minami
IPU New Zealand ticks all Stiffany Adanza’s boxes and even some that were not on her list.
Adanza is from Manila in the Philippines and arrived at the Palmerston North tertiary institute last November to complete her Master of Contemporary International Studies.
The 46-year-old wanted to get her masters in an international setting and looked at institutes in Austria, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and Canada.
She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Philippines majoring in linguistics with a minor in Japanese. With IPU’s Japanese roots, it felt like coming home.
“IPU, it felt different, you know when you find the one.”
It has such a beautiful campus and the marketing manager being Filipino is a bonus.
Adanza is living in Hokowhitu with her husband and daughter, 7.
She will continue her creative manager role for Filipino media company ABS-CBN Corporation and will also be working eight hours a week for Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March in communications.
In January last year, she started online study at IPU finishing the first part of her masters.
IPU New Zealand student Hiroki Amai takes a different tack for the photoshoot to that of his fellow students, Arisa Miyazaki (left), Eva Malone, and Stiffany Adanza. Photo / Judith Lacy
Hiroki Amai was unable to return to the Palmy campus fortwo-and-a-half years thanks to the pandemic.
He was in Palmerston North in 2018 and 2019 and in December 2019 went back to Tokyo for his summer holidays, planning to return in March.
Amai was finally able to returnlast August to finish his Bachelor of Contemporary International Studies majoring in international relations. He had done a year of online classes from Tokyo, then had a year’s break as there were no online papers he could take.
Amai saw a poster about IPU atClark Memorial International High School. The Japanese school is part of the Soshi Educational Group, as is IPU New Zealand.
He thought studying in Palmerston North would be a good chance. His father had said he would kick him out when he turned 18 so thought he would leave first.
“My dad was like, ‘Smart choice’.”
He wanted to learn international relations and business using English and avoid studying English using Japanese.
He also enjoys being in an environment with classmates from other nationalities.
With about 30 students in the men’s dorm, he says he doesn’t get bored.
The 23-year-old enjoys midnight walks in Palmerston North because it’s quiet and the view is different from what he sees in the daytime.
Tokyo is a noisy city and full of light and people, even at midnight. “In Palmy it’s dead calm, it is quiet.”
Eva Malone is well aware of Palmy’s charms as it is her home.
She is studying for a Bachelor of Contemporary International Studies majoring in international relations and Japanese.
She wants to work in Japan. When she was a child, her aunt went on a Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme, sending her postcards from Japan and bringing back gifts.
Malone went to Awatapu College and used to go to the IPU campus for competitions and to help with events.
She excelled in Japanese at school because she really want to go to Japan, she says. She won a scholarship to attend Kun-ei Girls’ High School in Osaka, but Covid meant she couldn’t take it up.
Malone, who turns 20 next month, has been working to save up for her study and came to IPU last August.
Mixing with students from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia means she is learning about many cultures, not just Kiwi and Japanese.
“You get to learn a lot about the rest of the world and it’s very interesting.”
She gets help with her Japanese from native speakers and is getting exposure to different dialects.
“IPU has been the best decision I’ve made in the past few years and it will get me to where I want to be.”
Arisa Miyazaki (left), Eva Malone, Stiffany Adanza, and Hiroki Amai (front) are all fans of IPU New Zealand, and are pleased to be studying on campus. Photo / Judith Lacy
Malone is living in the women’s dorm with other 40 other female students, including Arisa Miyazaki.
The 21-year-old from Chiba in Japanarrived at IPU last August. She is studying for a Bachelor of Contemporary International Studies majoring in business.
Miyazaki was attracted to IPU by the number of staff it has from Japan. She has found staff and students supportive and friendly.
She was to come to Palmerston North in 2020 but the border closure put paid to that. Instead, she started online study at IPU, finding its English classes helpful to get her language skills up to bachelor level.
On January 13, IPU held an orientation for the new students enrolled for the summer term. IPU New Zealand currently has about 160 students - about 75 per cent on campus, the rest online. About 350 students were studying on campus before the pandemic.
