Irene Eyatu Amajo

Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Management

Uganda

Irene Eyatu Amajo says Otago Polytechnic's Auckland International Campus has given her the chance to meet people from all over the world and learn about their cultures.

Irene came to New Zealand from Uganda in East Africa to study a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Management at OPAIC.

She says she enjoys meeting new people and she’s had the opportunity to get to know people from places including China, India, Russia, Vietnam and Brazil at OPAIC’s diverse campus.

Irene did her first degree in business and finance in the UK. Since then she’s worked in finance in Kenya as well as in a number of roles at her family business, made up of a hotel and a construction company.

She wanted to try somewhere new for her postgraduate study. When she first started thinking about New Zealand she Googled the country.

“When I type in New Zealand the first thing you see is the beauty. The pictures depict a lot of beauty.”

New Zealand also has better study opportunities than other countries, she says. She settled on OPAIC because of its practical focus.

Irene says her course has included a paper about Capabilities for Managers, where she worked in diverse groups and learned to communicate with different cultures and fit into an international setting.

“You learn so much. You get to know things that you never thought you were going to know, about India, about China, about what we do in our country, how it’s done, how we conduct ourselves, how we manage businesses.”

She has also studied Research and Enquiry here, where she learned a lot about research methodology, and how to collect and analyse information.

Irene plans to get started on a master’s degree at OPAIC once she finishes her course in December.

Then she'd like to start running her own business back home, perhaps in the area of food or beverage production.

She wants those back home to know that New Zealand is beautiful and not too cold. The party life here is also enjoyable.

“I’d definitely encourage everyone to choose AIC,” she says.

 “AIC is the best place to be and if you make a choice to join AIC it’s definitely the brightest and best choice.”

She says OPAIC gives students experiences that can help them get to the places they want to be.