Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell

Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngai Tahu / Kai Tahu, Ngati Apa

I really enjoyed the content in my finance papers because it was so relevant to my interests, but I also really enjoyed my other subjects as well, particularly Te Reo Māori and strategic management.

Tell about yourself, where are you from?

I was home schooled from the age of five and I grew up speaking Te Reo Māori, so I’ve been brought up within a tikanga Māori environment my whole life.

When I was about 14 I became interested in stocks and started investing a little bit of money as a hobby. I like the idea of how money can grow over time if you make sound investments.

Why did you choose to study at Waikato?

My parents also run their own Māori language education business, and while I was still at school I helped out by running the online store. My interest in finance and business grew over the years, and so it was just a natural, logical option for me to study finance and management once I got to Waikato University.

I knew that Waikato had a good reputation for caring about tikanga Māori and Māori students, so that was a big pull for me. The Management School also has a great reputation.

What's special about the Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours degree?

I knew that I wanted to do the four-year BMS Honours degree because it covers a wide range of topics and includes two work-based internships, so I thought it would provide a great learning experience. It’s theory-based initially, but then you get into the practical, real-world stuff later on.

There’s also a lot of group work in the BMS(Hons), which teaches you how to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, and I think that’s one of the key advantages of this degree. The University of Waikato is a place of exceptional diversity of thought.

What are your favourite subjects at uni?

I really enjoyed the content in my finance papers because it was so relevant to my interests, but I also really enjoyed my other subjects as well, particularly Te Reo Māori and strategic management.

I tried to make the most of the opportunities that became available to me while I studied. As a result, I had some awesome experiences. For example, my team made the finals of the WMS Case Competition, and then I got involved with the SDS National Case Competition and the CFA Institute Challenge.

I was also asked to tutor a few papers in strategic management, digital business and finance, which was really interesting and helped my own study.

Did you do any practical work experience as part of your degree?

Yes, I did a three-month summer internship with ASB in Auckland, working in their global markets team. That was great, I got to work on several projects and learned more about what happens in foreign exchange and interest rate trading.

What are your career plans and life goals?

Since completing university I’ve looked at several opportunities, but have decided I want to work for our family business, Haemata, in Whakatāne. I want to look at opportunities to expand the company into new markets, so it’s a bit like the WMS Case Competition applied to real life!

For me, my career and life goals are not focused on making money; that’s just a by-product of doing work that is valuable in its own right.

I’ve seen both of my parents making a contribution to the Māori language and Māori development through their careers, and I’d like to do the same by contributing to the development and strengthening of the Māori economy, which is set to get even bigger in the future.