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A 27-year-old Arrowtown woman has been named the national 2009 Hairdressing Apprentice of the Year.

Ria Wikio, an apprentice at Arrowtown's D'Or Hair Stylists, clinched the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation title at a Saturday award ceremony in Wellington.

Ms Wikio said winning the national title over six other regional finalists meant "everything" to her, especially with the win coming in just her second year of study.

"I've just finished my second year and am going into my last. Usually it's the third-year (students) who enter it."

Ms Wikio said she graduated from Otago University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and history before working at her parents' Walnut Cottage cafe, near Arrowtown.

"Then I thought, `what do I want to do? What am I passionate about'?"

She returned to school to study hairdressing via an apprenticeship at D'Or and the Southern Institute of Technology.

One day of each week is spent studying under tutor Trish Dowling at the Invercargill SIT campus, while during the other four she works under D'Or owner Rosemary Chalmers.

The apprentice of the year award is the second in three years for SIT, with Winton hairdresser Tara Lowe winning the title in 2007. Ms Chalmers said with Ms Lowe now also working at the Arrowtown salon, there had been a "handing of the torch" from her to Ms Wikio.

Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation chief executive Erica Cumming said about 20 apprentices from each of the seven regions in New Zealand had entered the competition.

"The applications are getting better and better every year.

"We were looking at seven excellent (finalists).

"Some things that really shone out for Ria was that while she had salon goals and personal goals, she also had the goal of wanting to mentor and get other people qualified."

- © Fairfax NZ News