Lorrut Renagi
3rd-year student, Bachelor of Business in Marketing with a minor in International Business Diploma in Business
Deciding to study marketing was easy for him, says Lorrut Renagi who came to AUT as an international student from Papua New Guinea, supported by a Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship.
“Marketing was my first choice because it allows me to marry my hobbies – content design, photography, writing – and career interests into one. Marketing & communications is such a broad spectrum; however my career interests are more concentrated in social marketing, market research and strategic marketing. I believe that the competencies the Bachelor of Business in Marketing covers are vital to my career growth.
“I’d love to have a career where I can make a difference and make a sustainable impact. I want to have the experience, expertise and mettle to design, develop and lead successful marketing strategies; to step into a room and stand in front of decision-makers and pierce ambivalence with critical analysis and innovation. With the skills gained, I also want to help businesses flourish, engender better social behaviours and, on a larger scale, market my country to the world in whatever capacity possible.”
It was a recommendation from friends that first put AUT on his radar.
“Friends I had met in the corporate world recommended AUT to me. After looking through the AUT website, it didn’t take much convincing. I knew as a marketer that AUT had the vibe I was after – vibrant and full of life.”
Second to none
Now in the third year of his degree, Lorrut is thoroughly enjoying his studies.
“The AUT Business School is second to none. I have friends from other universities in Auckland, and they’re surprised when I tell them about the opportunities business students have at AUT. These opportunities include networking events, workshops led by industry leaders, student exchange programmes and study tours overseas.
“The lecturers bring their wealth of experience to the table and are able to break down complex topics into easily digestible pieces that make learning interesting. Thanks to the library resources, having access to credible sources at my fingertips makes it easy to compile insights for my reports and assessments. Some of my marketing assessments were very practical as opposed to being theory-heavy, and I like that. The final-year workplace experience is probably the best one out of all of them. This puts students in a live environment to practise and apply the concepts we learned. It’s a practical approach to learning, and I love it.”
He has already had a few achievements he is particularly proud of.
“One of the highlights for me was getting third place for our marketing strategy pitch where my group and I went up against other talented marketing groups at AUT. We got awarded for pitching a product developed to address a gap in the New Zealand sports nutrition market. I’m also proud of being recognised for meeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s ‘Gold’ High Achiever standard of having an A- or above in at least two-thirds of my courses, and a B- to B+ in all remaining courses.”
Advice for other students
Expecting to complete his Bachelor of Business at the end of the year, Lorrut has some great advice for other students.
“My advice is to learn, question, and learn some more. Have an open mind but, by all means, have a sceptical one, one that helps shape insights and opinions into objective truths.”
Try not to leave your assignments to the last minute, he adds.
“The energy and focus that you apply to last-minute work, apply that in increments spaced out during a project/assessment’s timeline – you’ll be surprised at the quality of work you produce.”
