During the holidays, four students, Marielle Valeriano, Caitlin Hinton, Harlow Robertson (Y12), and Renee Habraken (Y13) spent a week living and studying at Otago University as part of the Hands-On at Otago programme. Read about their exciting experiences below.

Marielle:

I was assigned to Microbiology for my project, where we focused on investigating Staphylococcus aureus in food and other bacteria around us. We also swabbed our skin and cultured it on agar plates to determine the presence of bacteria. Investigating how our body fights these bacteria was also interesting, as we used a human blood specimen, made blood films, which was challenging, and analyzed them. For the taster subjects, I had Pharmacy where activities included making lipgloss and learning how pharmacists dispense medicine; Dentistry where we made clay fillers by using dental instruments and a “mock” check of a patient; and Sustainable Business where we had time to discuss how some companies greenwash to look like they care for the environment and their consumers. We had fun in the escape room they created for us to solve a business that is greenwashing their company. We also had lots of free time, where we could explore Dunedin. Doing laser tag was also an option and we got to try it. There was also an active afternoon spent in Unipol to do sports, jump jam, or just chill around. The Big Night Out was also a highlight for everyone. Overall, Hands-on at Otago was fun, learned a lot, and made new friends.

Caitlin:

I was allocated to the Surveying and Engineering project. As part of this group, we got to experience what surveyors and engineers do for their jobs and use the equipment they do. We measured two different sites to help us design a potential road. Being a part of this group has inspired me to look into the Bachelor of Surveying degree offered by Otago University. Throughout the week we also had taster subjects, mine being physics, law and the Otago Museum. For these tasters, I got to participate in experiments using radioactive material, the defence for a mock court trial and I also explored the butterfly museum. Not only was this experience about the different subjects but it also included a range of social activities such as the active afternoon, quiz night, laser tag, the Big Night Out, floor dances (which my floor won!) and even playing games at Te Rangihiroa college (where we stayed for the week). However, the real highlight of this experience was meeting all the different people from across New Zealand and listening to what their life is like where they come from. I truly recommend you apply for this course as you will make great memories over the week and will get insight into what university life is like.

Harlow:

My project was Education and throughout my time there I learnt and created many crafts that all tied back into the school curriculum such as making a radio with a brain box which ties into physics and making chocolate which ties into food nutrition. Other than our main project everyone took part in three tasters. My tasters were: international business on Monday, going to the Hocken Library on Tuesday and visiting the Highlanders rugby club on Wednesday. This was a chance to see what else the University of Otago has to offer but also to see more of Dunedin. Other activities included walking up Baldwin Street and visiting some of the Residential Colleges including Knox, Salmond and Carrington, which is what I chose to do. We also had a chance to get active at Unipol (Gym), do a Hands-on Otago quiz and also get to talk to staff and red shirts about University courses and scholarships. On Thursday night we got to present a room dance that we all created during our floor meetings. During the big night out we also danced, ate and sang but also played games and watched movies if you wanted to do something more quiet. I have many highlights from Hands-on at Otago including meeting new people and creating friendships with them, looking at the halls, the big night out and doing all my crafts with the people in my project.

Renee:

During the middle week of January in the summer holidays, I went down to Otago University for the Hands-On at Otago program, along with four hundred other Year 12 and 13 students from all around New Zealand. During the week we stayed at the new Te Rangihiroa College and got introduced to University life. Some of the highlights of my week were meeting so many new people from new places and creating lots of new friendships, visiting the Dunedin District Court and watching prosecutions with my law project group and the group quiz. We also finished the week with a ‘Big Night Out’ dance night where we dressed to the theme ‘Out of this World’ and had photos and food. I had an awesome week in Dunedin and I would highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go.