My Student Days in NZ

 Many would be wondering how it's like to study in New Zealand. Is it any different to the educational system in the Philippines?

In November 2017, I came to New Zealand on a student visa. I have used studying as my stepping stone to obtaining a work visa then eventually a residency in New Zealand. I enrolled on a Level 8 Postgraduate Certificate course in Business Information Systems at UUNZ Institute of Business. I chose to be on a level 8 programme so I can get my husband on a partner visa so he can work full-time. 

Studying in New Zealand is not that hard as it sounds. Perhaps studying has never really been a problem for me as I have managed to ace my classes before. It does entail hours of paperwork which I am used to doing but for others who hate technical writing, it's going to be a major problem. Objective forms of metrics like quizzes and exams are quite rare which is good so you have more control on your grade as long as you present a couple of good papers for the entire course subject. In fact, I have tougher exams and more stressful student life experience in my university days in the Philippines.

I remember the first time I got my first paper to work on. The topic was about cloud computing and we have to prepare a business case, financial report and video presentation on YouTube. I was a wreck  to the point I was doing my paper on Christmas holiday and New Year's eve! I almost lost my voice practicing the video presentation over and over again as I polish the recording so that it plays within 10 minutes only. I even stressed about my plagiarism percentage because it went beyond the 10% mark. 

Then I didn't realize I got the highest mark for the paper and even got a high distinction as my final grade. That was for my first subject. The rest came just as equally hard and more challenging but still enjoyable. It was fun to learn IT as I never got the opportunity to study it for my bachelors. I studied Physical Therapy (also called Physiotherapy) for my major which is a very far cry from IT! Yes a lot of people have wondered how I managed to change careers then. 

I think the main highlight of my student life in NZ is meeting a really good bunch of people who eventually became my close friends. There's Dan, a fellow Filipino who is the designer of the group and most introverted. Lucas, a Korean IT developer who has travelled to the Philippines previously to study English. Lastly there's Cha, a Korean who actually went to NZ to study and broaden his English because he works for the Ministry of Defense in Korea. 

We normally have our coffee catch-ups after school (and sometimes lunch or dinner) that would take up to about 3 hours. I always ended up being like the English tutor of the group as being the most outspoken one. I also learned a bit of Korean words and Korean culture. We also have our study sessions. I never realized that that would be one of the happiest and best moments of my life in NZ. I surely miss those. We still catch up from time to time though Cha, unfortunately, had to go back to Korea.

So is studying worth it in NZ? Only if you have plans to become a resident. The cost alone is quite a fortune. Plus there are no guarantees that becoming a student in NZ will lead you to residency. It still all boils down to work experience.