Celebrating Wintec wāhine: Peony Smith
It's International Women’s Day this Wednesday and this year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity. Instead of celebrating for just one day, we’ve decided to celebrate each day this week with a profile of a Wintec | Te Pūkenga kaimahi or ākonga.
Peony Smith is currently studying her final semester to gain her Bachelor of Applied IT in Software Engineering at Wintec | Te Pūkenga, as well as interning as a Junior Business Analyst at Spark.
What do you enjoy doing outside work/study?
If I’m not spending time with friends and family, I’m travelling, listening to house music, adventuring out on the water, researching new funds and companies to invest in, or learning something new.
What makes you passionate about your area of work/study?
My passion for IT grew from seeing real life examples of how beneficial a piece of tech or software can be to someone’s life or business and wanting to be a part of that. I love how the industry is always growing and updating, there will never be a dull moment, my newest obsession being ChatGPT, it will be a game changer for how education will be taught.
Do you have a favourite quote that inspires you?
Failure is only failure if you let it be.
If you were a crayon, what colour would you be and why?
I suppose I’d be blue because I like to think I’m a calm person.
What are you most proud of?
I’m trying to be more proud of myself this year, I struggle with imposter syndrome, which means when I achieve things I feel like it’s just out of pure luck or that I didn’t deserve to achieve that. I usually find my gratification from others telling me, “good job” or, “I’m proud of you”. But I suppose I’m most proud of the days where I can push through my intrusive thoughts. I’m a firm believer in working on your mental health as much as your physical health.
Any interesting/fun facts about yourself that you’d like to add?
Not specific to me but just if this reaches you and you’re unsure about studying IT and are wanting some of your questions answered, I’m happy to help!
