Sacrifice opens doors for Fijian student
Sacrifice is a word all too familiar for Wintec business student, Faranisese Baya Fox, who will graduate with a Bachelor of Applied Management today.
Francis, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji in 2006 with her family, has spent the last four years juggling full-time study at Wintec with caring for her young family and settling into a new country and way of life.
Before moving to New Zealand with her husband Robert and two boys Ezekiel and Cornelius aged seven and eight, Francis worked as a personal assistant in Fiji. She made the decision to come to Wintec to better her family’s future and so she could care for her boys before and after school.
“I’ve scarified so much to study including time away from my family. I would spend four days per week in class, then I’d be back at Wintec again at night to study after putting my kids to bed,” she says.
“It has been tough and managing my time was my biggest challenge, but I do it all for my family’s future.”
“It has been challenging, but it’s not something that should put people off who are thinking of moving to New Zealand to study. All it takes is a can-do attitude.”
Francis’ time at Wintec included a six month stint at Shandong University of Technology in China where she studied Mandarin after being awarded a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia in 2015.
“This was my most memorable experience at Wintec,” she says.
“While I was in China my kids stayed with family and went to school in Fiji. It was hard being away from my family for so long, but it was an experience I’ll remember forever.”
Francis will graduate with her Bachelor of Applied Management at Wintec’s marae graduation on Friday 18 March.
She hopes to begin an MBA in the near future.
