Scott Drabble

It was second time around for Scott Drabble, 46, when he walked the graduation stage at the University of Waikato Tauranga campus in September 2022.

In June 2019, Scott was among the first cohort of students to have their qualification conferred in the lecture theatre of the newly built city campus. Three years after graduating with a Bachelor of Social Sciences, Scott was proud to receive his Master of Social Sciences in Psychology.

Born and bred in Tauranga, and a proud Tauranga Boys’ College Old Boy, when he left school Scott enjoyed working in manual labour jobs, yet always yearned for a tertiary education. He embarked on his journey with Waikato University in 2016, opting to study psychology.

“I chose psychology because I wanted to be able to understand why we make the decisions we do so that I could help people,” says Scott.

Describing his university experience as “extremely positive”, Scott credits the Tauranga-based psychology team of Tina Bourke, Rebecca Sargisson and Taciano Milfont, as being his biggest supporters during his postgraduate studies.

Scott admits that a lot of blood, sweat, tears and hours went into his master’s but he is proud that his perseverance paid off.

“I think having a master’s not only shows knowledge in your chosen field but also shows discipline and organisation skills that are transferable in almost any industry,” he says.

Scott didn’t have to go far to look for work. His personable nature, strong work ethic and knowledge of the University environment saw him snapped up to take on the role of accommodation coordinator for Tauranga’s new student accommodation, Selwyn Street Studios.

“I always wanted to work with the University of Waikato because of the wonderful people that we have here,” says Scott.

“The way we teach, the environment, the support systems and the leadership of the University means that you get a great education while being treated with respect and kindness.”