Higher education approved by father and son
This father son duo checked out higher education options at Lincoln University
Nearly every time your child reaches a major milestone – tying their shoelaces, starting school or getting their driver’s licence – there’s someone on hand to tell you how quickly they grow up.
But it’s once they get to the end of their high school years and conversations about what they want to be when they grow up are no longer theoretical and fantastical, that you realise how quickly the years have flown, and the best ones are just around the corner for your child.
Just ask Matt Emery. His daughter starts university in 2018 and son Harry has just one more year of high school to go before the big wide world beckons.
As a kid, Harry had his heart set on growing up to be a truck driver. Some things have changed since then, but he’s still set on a job that keeps him away from a desk and outdoors as much as possible. With an ambition to own his own company one day, he’s keen to also get the business skills that will make an outdoor venture a success. Which is why he and his dad took some time out to visit Lincoln University together. As New Zealand’s specialist land-based university, it offers a wide variety of options in areas such as agriculture, business, the environment, landscape architecture, tourism and winemaking.
Matt says things have changed considerably since he was checking out universities for himself a couple of decades ago, and the variety of courses today can be overwhelming. So he was grateful for the support of staff at Lincoln who could show him how a degree can be built around the strengths and ambitions of each student.
As a dad, his ultimate wish is for his kids to choose a course of study they will enjoy, but will also carry them into a successful future.
“If you are going to go through the effort and expense of studying and getting a qualification, look for something that will make you employable at the end,” says Matt.
The agri-food sector is growing dramatically, and crying out for more skilled workers. Lincoln is helping to fill this need with recently released Ministry of Education statistics showing that the University’s Bachelor’s Degree graduate employment rates are consistently the highest among New Zealand universities, and a survey of graduates from the class of 2016 found that 93 percent of those employed were in career-related positions.
Those figures are partly thanks to Lincoln’s emphasis on real-world, practical experience alongside academic excellence, which makes graduates useful from their first day on the job. The opportunity for field trips and work experience really appeals to Harry, who enjoys hands-on learning.
Like any major milestone, university life has many facets to it. Both Matt and Harry were just as impressed by the social and sporting opportunities available to students on the campus.
“I really liked how green and open it is, it’s not just big buildings everywhere like a big city university,” says Matt. “It seems like a really social place, where you could meet lots of new people. We went and visited the halls of residence and I liked how they were laid out and right on campus. It would be a great place to make new friends – and get a great degree of course!”
For more information about Lincoln as your choice of university visit www.lincoln.ac.nz