Love, Lauren

Tēnā koutou, e mihi aroha ana ki a koutou katoa.

My connection to the Studio began back in 2015 when I started volunteering with Ignite Consultants. Fast forward a few years and I was a keen member of the University of Otago Student Leadership whānau!

What the Studio offers the Dunedin community, particularly students, I believe is unparalleled and unique. It provides a channel through which students, who often come from outside of Ōtepoti and so can feel disconnected from the local community, can connect with the city and people they now call home. I believe that students have much to offer – and the Studio does too. This is significant. The empowerment, guidance, and opportunity that the Studio provides is so wonderful and was a key part of my personal and professional growth through my time at Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo.

The learning space that the Studio created for me to test and refine my soft and hard, and personal and professional skills is something I am immensely grateful for. It also enabled me to meet and be mentored by mana wāhine, like Sze-En Watts, who do amazing work with and for students in Ōtepoti.

I do not think I would be where I am today without these experiences at Otāgo. Communities and platforms like the Studio nurtured my drive and passion for public service and motivated me to pursue a career dedicated to impact and improving the lives of New Zealanders. The Studio also helped to foster the lifelong learner within me, motivating me to seek continued education at the University of Oxford where I am currently completing a Master of Public Policy.

The individuals who are drawn to be a part of the Studio – creative, compassionate, ambitious, generous – are the community that you take with you beyond Otāgo. Since graduating, I have become involved in a range of social impact organisations in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and, more often than not, the people I work alongside are fellow Studio alumni. Most notably, I am currently the Chair of the Social Change Collective, a not-for-profit established by other Otāgo alumni, and two of our other trustees I (coincidentally) knew through my time at the Studio! The networks and bonds that you form with like-minded individuals at the Studio last well into your next steps. This is really special and should be nurtured.

He kai kei aku ringa.

Nā Lauren Holloway.