An interest in science and design led Serene-Hato Ratu to UC Product Design. The new grad now recommends the University of Canterbury as a great place to study.
Serene accepting the University of Canterbury Students' Association (UCSA) Waewae Kai Pakiaka Blues Award in 2022 for an outstanding contribution to the Māori community.
Originally from Waimana, a small town near Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, Serene (Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Whakatohea, Ngāi Tahu) says she found Ōtautahi Christchurch and Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) a very different experience.
"Living in the halls for my first year was like stepping into a new world for me. It was a major transition going from living in a small town with my family to living in a large city with people I had only just met."
Graduating in August, Serene is now a staunch UC advocate. "I've been telling everyone they need to go there," she says.
She found a "home away from home" at UC after joining Te Akatoki Māori Students' Association and in her second year, job-sharing the Social Representative role on the executive team.
"We organised quite big events - the biggest was the Matariki Market which attracted thousands of students and lots of acts," she says.
Kaiurungi Matua Thomas Hamilton (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa) commended Serene for her work in Te Akatoki, and stepping up as a Tuakana Student Leader, a role that involves creating a welcoming environment for and providing support to new UC Māori students.
"She always demonstrated a positive approach which has helped other ākonga (students) feel welcomed and comfortable," he says.
In her second year, as she focused on the major subjects for her Bachelor of Product Design degree, Serene started an internship with Lincoln Agritech.
"Lincoln Agritech's cultural advisor was a Tuhoe kaumatua. He noticed I was doing science and approached me to work on a joint Tuhoe-Lincoln Agritech project," Serene says.
"My work was to be able to obtain the highest quality of pigment colour from the bark of the Tawa tree. These trees are in abundance in Te Urewera. I loved it - they flew me back home to collect the bark myself, and I was able to use our own methods."
A second internship project with Lincoln Agritech saw Serene making natural fibres from the bark of the same tree, again in conjunction with Tuhoe.
After recently completing her Product Design, majoring in Chemical Formulation Design, studies at UC, the 22-year-old started working full-time for Hill Laboratories in Hamilton, testing water for trace elements.
As for the future, Serene says she can see herself building a lab in her hometown so she can focus on her own mahi with local plants. She is particularly interested in creating a skincare line.
