Madeleine Furley

When Madeleine Furley finished high school, she knew she wanted a taste of the student life in Dunedin. “I was keen to escape the hustle and bustle of Auckland and after visiting friends who were studying in Dunedin, I was instantly attracted to the city’s laid-back student culture."

Already studying for a communications degree in Auckland, Madeleine couldn’t shake the itch to head south. She decided to put her studies on hold for a year and enrolled in a Diploma in Human Resource Management at Otago Polytechnic.

“The course was fantastic,” she says. “It was relevant to what I’d already been studying and it was very practical. The lecturers made themselves really available and you weren’t just a number. They knew who you were.”

Madeleine says that one of the highlights of her year at Otago was being able to apply the skills she was learning to an actual business situation. For one of her assignments, she worked with the owners of Velvet Burger, analysing the management and organisation of the company.

“It was more than just an assignment for us”, she says. “They were actually going to use our professional advice to help their business.”

Putting 1000 kilometers between herself and her hometown was also an experience. “It’s awesome to live on your own and do everything for yourself. I made lots of friends and met people from all over New Zealand and overseas.”

It’s been a learning curve for her parents too, she points out. “I was keeping them happy with my good grades and survival skills.”