PAST STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Rez Gardi was a recently awarded the title of Young New Zealander of the Year. 

What makes Rez’s achievement that more impressive was that she came to New Zealand as a refugee at the age of six without any English language skills. 

As a past student of Massey High School, she graduated in 2009 before attending Auckland University completing a conjoint honours degree in Law and a BA double, majoring in International Relations and Criminology. 

Not one to sit still, she spent a summer working for the Kurdistan Regional Government as an Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Protocol. The following year she was a Human Rights Intern for the United Nations in Kenya. 

Rez has always valued education and when an opportunity for an exchange to Indiana University came up, she lept at the chance. Upon her return from America, she was admitted to the Bar. 

She has worked with the University of Auckland to raise funds for three refugee scholarships per year for the next six years. 

Rez is passionate about helping more refugee background students reach higher education. Currently she is working for the litigation team at the firm of Chapman Tripp. 

Rez still talks fondly of her time at Massey High School and credits her grounding here as a reason of her success.