Rawiri Tonga

Born and raised in Taupō, Rawiri Tonga ((Ngāti Tūwharetoa) says the business acumen and soft skills he acquired during his business degree at Waikato Uni have been invaluable to how he navigates the corporate world.

Now employed as a consulting graduate at PwC in Wellington, Rawiri was a top student among his cohort when he graduated in 2024 with a Bachelor of Business majoring in Finance and Economics.

“It was definitely driven by an interest in investing. I found the media and culture around finance and investing really exciting," he says.

"After taking the first-year economics paper, ECONS101, and loving the content, I decided to include it in my degree as a second major after the first trimester.”

And it was Professor Michael Cameron’s paper, Economics and Society (ECONS102), that was a true standout to Rawiri, describing it as “the best management paper you can take”.

“It has everything you need to know about economics – but it’s applied to tangible, real-world situations.”

Rawiri found Waikato University to be the perfect fit for him.

"It’s close to home, a happy medium between Taupō and a big city like Auckland or Wellington. One of my favourite parts about Hamilton was going to campus every day and going to the Unirec."

Rawiri encourages other students to get themselves a core group of people that they can bounce ideas off, spend time with, and go to class with.

During his studies, Rawiri completed two summer internships at Contact Energy in Wellington. His main project was focused on geothermal cost data analysis, where he forecasted cost estimates for future geothermal power stations.

He also experienced a hīkoi into the history of the Wairakei geothermal area and assisted in integrating a dynamic video conferencing system for the sustainability team based in Taupō.

"My life would look so different now if I'd decided to go to university because I felt like I had to. I love what I’m doing and wouldn’t change it."