COVID-19 UPDATE: 26 November 2021
Kia ora SAE whānau,
Today marks the end of our teaching year for 2021.
While I appreciate that some students have extensions for assignments and that all of you can continue to access our facilities until Christmas, I didn’t want today to pass without acknowledging this milestone.
To say it’s been a challenging year is an understatement. This past trimester in particular has been so tough.
But we did it.
To make it to the end of the teaching year required extraordinary tenacity, a remarkable ability to problem solve and be flexible, and a deep commitment to creativity and learning. It drew on the best of our humanity – the importance of kindness and consideration for others and the need to be gentle with ourselves.
These are skills and attitudes that will take you far. Beyond the technical competencies you develop at SAE, it is this broader learning that will forever impact your work and career. It may have been the harshest of lessons, but COVID has shown us what we are truly capable of.
I am proud of the kindness and support you have shown each other.
And I am deeply grateful to our amazing teachers and academic leaders, our awesome studio supervisors, our compassionate student support team, and all the other staff from operations and IT to admin and recruitment who have worked so hard behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. Ngā mihi nui team. You are truly extraordinary.
And to our students: Congratulations for making it through 2021.
If you are finishing up at the end of this year – well done! I look forward to watching you cross the graduation stage in early 2022.
If you are returning next year, I can’t wait to see you back on campus.
Thank you for helping to make this year one that we will truly remember. Not only for the tough times, but also for how we met that challenge.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective
Ngā mihi nui,
Suzette
Dr Suzette Major
Campus Director, SAE AUCKLAND