Management student Tavish Sehgal is thriving at OPAIC and helping other students to achieve.
He’s grateful for the early challenges he faced during his English language pathway studies and the support he received, because it helped him prepare for his main programme of study.
Tavish studied the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (NZCEL) (Level 5), as a pathway to the Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Management.
He says he struggled early on in his English programme.
“However, with the help and great support from my professor and also from the Peer Tutor at that time, I overcame all the problems and did my best and scored good marks.”
“That was the turning point for me, and it became easier for me to overcome the various challenges during the Applied Management studies.”
Tavish says his teachers support his creativity and help him think in a diversified manner, which will be a helpful skill in the future.
“The best part of this polytechnic is that all the staff members are very cooperative and helpful.”
“They also provide one-to-one support whenever needed and required.”
Tavish has recently taken on a peer tutoring role at OPAIC, helping other Applied Management students with their study.
“I really enjoy my role and feel happy and proud when I teach other students.”
As well as helping them out with their courses, he can learn all about their cultures.
“This helps me to understand other students well so that I can help them in the way they want.”
He tried to help other students even before he became a Peer Tutor.
“I enjoy sharing my own knowledge with those who want to learn new things.”
Head of Department for English, Paul Dixon, says he knows Tavish found NZCEL (Level 5) challenging in the beginning, but he persevered and responded really well to the guidance provided by his tutor.
“After he started his main programme, Tavish came to see me to say he could now see how valuable Level 5 had been in preparing him for postgraduate study in New Zealand,” says Paul.
“It’s particularly gratifying to see Tavish now sharing his experience with other learners in his role as a Peer Tutor."
The Level 5 programme is designed to ensure learners have the language proficiency and academic skills they need for successful postgraduate study in New Zealand, says Paul.
Unlike the international proficiency exams, our NZCEL assessments are based on authentic, real-world academic tasks like notetaking, summarising and evaluating sources, and writing reports.
“All require learners to analyse, evaluate and synthesise source material, and this can be challenging at first. However, we routinely hear from our Level 5 graduates who tell us what valuable preparation this was for their postgraduate studies, and how much more confident they feel as a result.”
The road to OPAIC
Tavish was born and raised in Delhi, India. He’s a qualified engineer with a degree in electronics and communications and certifications in Routing and Switching, Firewalls and Enterprise Security.
He’s worked for Microsoft, India Today Media Group, Singapore Prison, and KPMG India, and received many awards for his work.
Having achieved a lot in his educational and professional life he decided it was time to study management to help his career along.
“I needed to move further and that can only be possible if I have a management degree.”
He says life in New Zealand is very simple and safe. Auckland has vibrant and diverse dining, arts and culture scenes and the weather is perfect.
“For me Auckland was my dream city to study in because it is the most livable city in the world and the education sector in NZ has a great reputation and is ranked among the best in the world.”
He picked OPAIC because of the diversified subjects in the Applied Management field.
Read more about the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Level 5).
Read more about the Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Management.
