Study is just one part of life, says AUT Edge Award Overall Achiever

The tremendous effort that Jefferson Chen put into the AUT Edge Award was noted by the Employability Lab team from early on, as Jefferson went out of his way to participate in everything he could that involved employability, including a whopping 36 employability events.

Winner of the December NZME Overall Achievement prize for the AUT Edge Award Jefferson was keen to get involved in anything and everything he possibly could from the get-go. Through the award he says he learned more than he could ever have imagined.

“I learned to think about what I have of value to others and others to me and how to be inclusive, accountable and credible.”

Jefferson also learned the impact volunteering can make on environmental projects and how – as a leader - inclusiveness and encouragement are essential in bringing out the best in people.

“Being a good leader involves more than having the label of leader,” he says. “You also have to listen to and care about others.”

He took up the mantel of leadership by setting up not one, but two clubs, during his time here at AUT. One is AUT NOW, a club that engages students to undertake volunteering involving sustainability and the environment. The other is AUT ACG (Animation, Comics, Gaming( Club that provides a space for students who have a passion for comics, animations and models can be themselves and share.

Yet, when he first arrived in New Zealand Jefferson had little understanding of the impact of volunteering or knowledge of environmental issues. Study was at the foremost of his life and he didn’t think he had time to volunteer or get involved in other activities.  Now he is organising sustainability events while contantly volunteering for different organisations and causes even though he no longer needs to do volunteering hours for the AUT Edge Award.

“I now understand the importance of sustainability and the environment, all new to me, but things I now value very highly.”

The NZME Overall Achievement Prize is awarded to the student who has demonstrated the highest level of achievement, including personal growth, going outside their comfort zone and putting in tremendous effort to complete the AUT Edge Award.

AUT Edge Award Prize Winners December 2019

• Jefferson Chen – NZME Overall Achievement Prize
• Sharleen Shergill – Chartered Accountants Australia and NZ Leadership Prize
• Sara Bekhit – Auckland Council Kingi Social/Community Impact prize
• Reagan Leith – IHG Personal Growth Prize
• Vaanipriya Diwan - SEEK Volunteer Volunteering Prize

(Winners left to right Sara Bekhit, Vaanipriya Diwan, Jefferson Chen, Sharleen Shergill, Reagan Leith)

AUT Edge Award continues to expand

Jefferson was one of 54 students to graduate with the AUT Edge Award in December, taking the total number of AUT Edge Award graduates to 258. Another 2890 students are currently enrolled.

Since its inception, AUT Edge Award students have contributed more than 30,000 hours of volunteering into the local community, including beach clean ups, helping charities and social enterprises and tree planting. They have provided 17,930 hours of leadership, such as establishing clubs, supporting campaigns, representing AUT at the United Nations University Scholarship Leadership Symposium and running a wide variety of community events. They have also attended over 2670 workshops and employer presentations.

Director of Student Employability Anna Williams says time and time again the team hears of students who directly attribute their AUT Edge journey with receiving job offers, and connecting with people who will be critical in their career post university.

“We have huge respect for all the students who spend hours in this programme, volunteering, attending workshops etc, while managing academic study, family, friends and part time jobs.”

Anna says the interest in and success of the AUT Edge Award programme has led to the set up of a second co-curricular award, Beyond AUT Award, designed specifically for postgraduate students looking for ways to deepen their leadership experiences and further enhance their employability skills.

“Although the Beyond AUT Award has only been on offer for one semester, we already have three graduates of whom we are very proud,” says Anna.

Email to find out more about the AUT Edge Award and the Beyond AUT Award.