Scholars get a helping hand

DELWYN DICKEY

Two Rodney College students recently went through the rigours of an "Apprentice" style elimination panel of company representatives, headed by advertising agency Ogilvy New Zealand managing director Greg Partington.

They had to convince the panel they were worthy of a university scholarship. Only one would win.

"The first job you get on leaving university can make or break your career, and in these tough times a job is everything," says Mr Partington.

"As a full service advertising agency we have a number of roles for university graduates and we decided the combination of a university scholarship and a career opportunity would be of tremendous value to Rodney College school leavers.

"In addition to roles within client service, creative, media and public relations we also employ photographers, stylists, editors, television and digital producers, web designers and data analysts, so opportunities abound."

Blain Friskin-Berry was named the inaugural winner of the Ogilvy internship, which will fund his three-year science degree at Auckland University, give him holiday work and a job at Ogilvy at the end of his degree.

But it was a tough decision, says Mr Partington, who also offered runner-up Michael Schmidt work for Ogilvy during his university holidays, which he has taken up.

"By the time Michael graduates he will have a real understanding of the advertising industry, as well as hand-on-experience which will set him apart from other graduates," says Mr Partington.

"These decisions were not completely altruistic as I will also be getting good people coming through."

Mr Partington's career is an example of the importance of getting it right first time. After growing up in Wellsford and attending Rodney College he left home at 17.

"I hadn't travelled much, really only to Auckland. I wasn't particularly good at anything at school but thought perhaps being a lawyer or teaching could be a good idea."

While in Christchurch, on the spur of the moment, he applied for and got a job as a media planner/buyer with an advertising company.

"I was hopeless at it, but it gave me a good grounding in key advertising disciplines."

Mr Partington still lives in the Wellsford area but on a 1500-hectare dairy farm at Tomarata. His desire to contribute to the college came, he says, after seeing a derogatory television programme that focused on a school ball at the college.

"I couldn't believe it. It was just awful, horrific – this was my school."

He decided to use his success to inject some money into the future education of the area's youth, and started the Partington Family Scholarship seven years ago.

"I got my start in Wellsford, and I'm grateful for it."

This year Corey Kok is using the $5000 scholarship for university fees, as is Ashleigh Hume who was awarded $5000 under another scholarship – the Partington Adversity Scholarship towards her study at Victoria University.

"Scholarships such as those offered by Mr Partington are a significant stepping-stone that helps to ensure our students reach their full potential," Rodney College principal Dave Ormandy says.

"It would be impossible to put a monetary value on this type of opportunity," Mr Ormandy says.

- © Fairfax NZ News