Te ora ki ngā wharenoho

Life in the Halls

Every year, a new cohort of kainoho | residents move into University Accommodation and begin shaping their community.

While it is hard to capture the exact experience of every kainoho, Residential Advisory Committee (RAC) members from some halls reflected on their favourite memories and most impact moments.

RAC representatives are elected members who serve as the voice of the hall and residence community. They regularly meet with fellow kainoho and Accommodation staff to provide feedback and insights on their experiences.

To learn more about the resident experience, check out the Accommodation Instagram page.

Carlaw Park Student Village

Wendy Chiang, RAC Representative

The best part of the Carlaw Park community this year was the opportunities to get hands-on with activities we otherwise wouldn’t do on our own, such as the beeswax food wrap making. There is always something on offer for residents to be part of the community, share new experiences, or simply relax and have fun. Yaron, my guide dog, particularly loved being patted by the friendly staff and residents who stopped to greet us around campus.

Grafton Hall and Student Flats

Anthony Bolton and Eun Ji Kim, Hall Presidents

Move in day was greatly anticipated and full of all things new. The Grafton community built a special place for everyone, and we are very grateful to walk away with many amazing memories and strong relationships made throughout the year. Some of our highlights were diversity trivia, Staff vs Residents Sports Day and Mocktail night where we enjoyed our newly formed Grafton Hall band who later in the year went onto win the InterRes Talent Quest Trophy. Our Inter Residential teams represented our hall with pride and our RA’s certainly were our biggest cheerleaders on the day. As we reflect on our first-year experiences, we count our lucky stars to have all shared what we consider Grafton to be – our forever whānau.

O’Rorke Hall

Tim Evans, Hall President

The best part of being at O’Rorke Hall has been our tight-knit community. As OHRA’s President, I have seen our kainoho come together and build wholesome relationships especially through events like the Resident Association’s Quiz night & clothing swap events. Through our staff-led programmes like Arts & Culture Weekend, Life Skills, Cultural Language weeks, Formal Dinners, the Royal Masquerade Ball, and the Inter-Residential competitions I got to see how exciting the University Accommodation experience can be.

University Hall – Towers

Isobel Green (she/her), Hall President

Our biggest achievement as a hall was running the Shave for a Cure event. This event was run by one of the students, Lachy, who did a great job promoting and getting people from across the hall to shave or donate their hair. That night was a huge success, with donations from the residents for this amazing charity. Personally, it was also a ‘coming’ together moment in Towers, as this was the first big event we were able to hold after Covid-19 restrictions. Many residents turned up in support, contributing by shaving their friend’s hair or being there in support. It was a fantastic night, with an amazing atmosphere, one which set the standards for all the following events to come.

Te Tirohanga o te Tōangaroa

Rafaela Palielo, RAC Representative

The residents and I at halls have loved taking part in the fortnightly movie nights in the movie room to have a chill night and enjoy the snacks. We also enjoyed the salsa dancing night where we spent the night getting taught how to salsa dance. This was a fun ice-breaker that helped me make new friends at halls.

Waipārūrū Hall

Nimish (he/him), Hall President

This year’s crop of Waipārūrū Wasps loved taking part in Pink Shirt Day, showing their support through action, donation, and conversation. It was great to see so much positivity from our residents. Flame Tree even made some special kai for us!

Waipārūrū Hall – Whitaker Block

Nitya Dwivedi (she/her), Hall President

The best part of the Whitaker Hall community this year has been the diversity and richness of the hall’s residents. Whitaker is the oldest self-catered residence and is diverse in terms of race, nationality, gender, and even age. Our differences have enabled us to thrive in an environment that makes everyone feel represented in the wider community. It has been a joy to watch Whitaker’s residents take the most of every opportunity and participate in both joint and block events.