Employability Awards graduation celebrates huge success in difficult times

(Caption: MYOB NZ Education Manager Shailan Patel presenting the AUT Edge Award Personal Growth prize to Benny Zhong)

Everyone had to grow this year to simply survive, declared Shailan Patel NZ Education Manager for MYOB, speaking at the AUT Edge and Beyond Awards graduation ceremony recently.

And survive and grow was exactly what 80 AUT Edge and Beyond award students did, successfully graduating (Wednesday 2 December) surrounded by family, friends, industry partners and the Employability and Careers team.

When presenting the Personal Growth prize, Shailan said he was highly impressed with the efforts of those who had completed the award.

“Over the last few years we have developed great partnerships with AUT working on many initiatives to help students transition to the workplace. We are very delighted to be part of the Edge Award by sponsoring the Personal Growth prize for the first time,” said Shailan.

Personal growth winner Benny Zhong beamed with delight at winning the prize. Benny says he learned to believe in himself through doing the Edge Award. “I am learning how to be myself and help others be who they are, whatever that might be.”

Impact of Covid

Doing these awards during Covid-19 has been an arduous undertaking, particularly when volunteering organisations had to literally shut their doors end of March. This added a new challenge to award students who had to meet 35 and 50 hours of volunteering and 12 to 18 hours of leadership to complete the award, said Student Employability Director Anna Williams.

“Covid definitely made our students journeys much harder. Volunteering is very hard to do over Zoom and some leadership events didn’t even get off the drawing board as lockdown loomed - and was then extended.”

Semester two Overall Edge Award winner Jude Gair-Ah Siu (right with Anna Williams), who did over 120 hours of volunteering and 149 hours of leadership, says she was completely humbled to receive the prize, and spoke of how much she’d grown through the AUT Edge Award.

“Often the little voice in our heads tells us that we can't do something because we don't deserve it, we aren't confident enough, we aren't qualified enough. But in reality, we are more than enough... There are still times where I doubt myself, but now I am more aware that voice is probably wrong and I should give it a go anyway.”

Industry sponsorship

Five organisations sponsor industry prizes for the Awards; MYOB, Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (sponsor of the overall Beyond AUT Award), EY (sponsor of the Edge Leadership Award), SEEK Volunteer (Volunteering and Semester One Overall Edge Award) and Brix & Co (Overall AUT Edge Award Semester Two).

It was a truly inspirational and special evening, says Beyond AUT Award key industry sponsor Chartered Accountants of Australia and NZ (CAANZ) Careers Engagement Manager Christine McKinnon (left with Siddharth Thyagaraj).

“Everything you’ve gone through will enable you to give and succeed in the future. I am thrilled to be part of this award.”

The two Beyond AUT overall winners, Mansi Mudgil and Siddarth Thyagaraj spoke of the challenge of doing volunteering and leadership hours over lockdown and how it taught them dedication, perseverance - and strong time management skills.

“The award really helped me push myself. I learned many things, including how to be patient and to do things for others without expectation. This has really changed me as a person,” says Mansi (below)

EY Campus Recruitment Senior Consultant Hannah Booth commented on how great it was to be able to turn up in person – something that could not happen in many other parts of the world currently at the moment.

“This is a new sponsorship for us and we’re very excited to be here. You’ve all done an excellent job in what has been an incredibly challenging year.”

Anna acknowledged the industry sponsorship and support of the awards from CAANZ, SEEK Volunteering, Brix & Co, MYOB and EY.

“Through these industry partnerships we are able to recognise not only the achievement of all the students but also celebrate those that go beyond expectation. We truly value these industry partnerships.”

Showing resilience and resourcefulness

Semester one Overall Edge Award winner Sarah Jaros (below left) says it was an absolute honour to receive the Semester 1 AUT Edge Overall  prize. She says the award showed her that being a source of goodness and using her strengths to help others was one of the most fulfilling pursuits she could undertake.

"With all that is going on in the world and an abundance of fear-based and disheartening news stories on the tv, celebrating the good people are doing for their communities is a true reminder of the goodness of human beings and the resilience of the human spirit."

Before presenting the awards Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack congratulated the graduates for their resilience and resourcefulness.

“Many of you had to organise and run leadership events on Zoom and Teams, deal with the stress of your academic studies online and maybe worry about friends and family far away. This shows immense resilience and resourcefulness that will not only make you a better employee but also enhance your ability to contribute to other spheres of life, family and employment.”

He pointed out that nearly 40,000 hours of volunteering has been completed across both awards. “That is the equivalent of one person working full time for 20 years.”

Anna says many students sign up for the award thinking it is going to be a box ticking exercise.

“Yeah, nuh. Instead it is an absolute journey of learning, knowledge, reflection and a building of self-confidence that makes you stand out in the crowd when you leave AUT.”

Winners of 2020 AUT Edge Award and Beyond AUT Awards

Read about the winners of the 2020 AUT Edge Award and the 2020 Beyond AUT Award.

• Overall Award Semester 1 – Sarah Jaros
• Overall Award Semester 2 – Jude Gair-Ah Siu
• Volunteering Award – Shaye Va
• Leadership Award – Nicole Camacho
• Personal Growth Award – Yuanfeng Zhong (Benny)
• Beyond Overall Winner Semester 1 – Mansi Mudgil
• Beyond Overall Winner Semester 2 - Siddarth Thyagaraj

The Stats

AUT Edge Award

• 3,723 students enrolled
• 308 graduates, with 65 this year.

Beyond AUT Award (set up a year ago, specifically for postgraduate students)

• 643 students enrolled
• 15 graduates this year.

Hours contributed (combined)

• 3775 hours of volunteering in the local community
  over 1000 hours in leadership roles or challenges

Learn more?

Want to find out more about the AUT Edge Award or AUT Beyond Award? Email Beyond AUT Award here or AUT Edge Award here