Tongan Student Wins Final William Gearish Award

According to Professor of Farm and AgriBusiness Management Nicola Shadbolt, the funds for the award have finally run out, but she’s hopeful that some individual or organisation may decide to put up an equivalent award next year.

The award recognises an outstanding farm management student who has demonstrated a high level of personal integrity, intellectual curiosity, vision and social conscious.

In addition to winning the William Gearish Memorial prize, Pau’u was also placed second for excellence in agriculture for third year students.

Pau’u admitted to being overwhelmed at winning the award which had its humble beginnings in her small Tongan village.

When her grandfather and father died and her uncles left for overseas, she took on the task of running a small chicken farm to help the family.

“I started hatching chickens during Covid and then people in my community said I knew everything and they asked to me to give advice on how to look after their chickens,” she told Rural News.

“Finally, one of my mentors suggested I should apply for a scholarship at Massey University. I did this and wrote about my experience with chickens and I won the scholarship,” she says.

Pau’u says she’s very grateful to all the people who enabled her to study at Massey.

As for the future she plans to go back to her village and continue helping the local people, including how to better market some of their crops. But tucked away in mind for the future is the idea of bringing sheep to her community.

“I have grown very interested in sheep and I have been looking into some sheep breeds that might do well in the islands. This would cost a lot of money, but I am going to save up and one day buy some sheep. That is the ultimate goal, but the other thing is help my little community with their horticulture crops,” she says.

There was a buzz of excitement and positivity as more than 250 students from the school of Agriculture and the Environment at Massey University as they gathered for their annual prizegiving in Palmerston North recently.

As well as top students and Massey academics, there many dignitaries including the Minister for Agriculture Todd McClay, along with ministers Mike Butterick and Andrew Hoggard, and the Mayor of Palmerston North, Grant Smith.

The keynote speaker for the evening was former Massey graduate Jen Corkran who’s now the senior animal protein analyst for Rabobank. Her key messages were - follow your curiosity, be open to change and that relationships matter.

For new Massey vice chancellor Professor Pierre Venter says it was the first time he’d presided over this occasion. He says it was exciting to celebrate the achievements of the students who have come together to study at Massey.