It is people that make the world so valuable
"Your family, friends and teachers/ mentors will all have an opinion on what they think you could be doing, however no one knows you better than you." - Tane Whitehead, Tertiary student
Tane Whitehead – Tertiary student, Otago University
Kia ora I am Tane Whitehead, A current second year student at the University of Otago. I descend from Taranaki and Te Ati Awa Iwi, and am proud to represent Taranaki through my current studies.
I attended Spotswood College, which I am very grateful for the opportunities that the school provided. I have been a part of the Why Ora programme since year 11, where I attended the secondary workshops at the hospital, as well as being provided a placement in year 13 which was very valuable.
From year 9 to year 12 I was set on doing physiotherapy, and was fortunate enough to be given a placement at the hospital to see where physiotherapy could take me. After this placement and discussions with family, friends, teachers and Prajesh Chhanabhai (Otago University liaison officer), I decided that I wasn’t as passionate as I once thought I was about physiotherapy, which was absolutely fine. I am glad that I had these thoughts prior to starting tertiary education, and felt that I wanted to do a degree which targeted more of my interests. This has led me to my current studies in a Bachelor of Science Majoring in Exercise and Sport Science and minoring in Economics.
My degree has allowed me to combine my passion of sport and physical activity with business, as I aim to start my own business in the future. My biggest supporters have to be my family. Being the first in my family to attend university, they don’t understand in detail the system, but trust that I know what I’m doing. My reason for following a degree in Exercise in Sport Science comes from a sporting background growing up, and not understanding why not everybody found sport as enjoyable as I did. Economics was a way for me to see the business side of things and why people make their decisions within the economy.
Despite this, I have also been able to take interest papers such as Māori papers to improve my conversational Māori, psychology and marketing.
Why Ora allowed me to look at different avenues I could go down and broaden my beliefs beyond the ideas that Māori students are only strong in certain areas. In reality, we are strong at whatever we apply ourselves to, and ultimately you must choose a path that makes you happy. Your family, friends and teachers/mentors will all have an opinion on what they think you could be doing, however no one knows you better than you. Additionally, a degree doesn’t have to finish at three years. Although I will graduate next year, I am wanting to do my honours on Exercise and Sport Science before doing a masters of teach
My greatest achievement so far is starting the Taranaki Hands On at Otago Scholarship, which will fully fund one student from a low decile school in Taranaki to attend Hands On at Otago. I attended Hands on at Otago in 2019 and was fortunate enough to receive the fully funded Poutama Scholarship for Māori students. However, acknowledging that not everybody comes from Maori whakapapa made me acknowledge that this could be a great scholarship to start. It has not been easy, but through support networks and the knowledge that my biggest reward comes from giving to others, I have been able to achieve great things. As the Māori proverb goes, He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. For me, it is people that make the world so valuable.
I thank the team at Why Ora for supporting me not only as a high school student but still as a university student, and strongly recommend you get involved with the programme. You may not know where your journey is taking you yet, but Why Ora will do an awesome job at showing you the opportunities out there that you otherwise may miss.
Keep striving for success,
Tane
