Residents were quick to offer their advice and encouragement to this year’s impressive recipient of the scholarship given in honour of their village namesake, Sir James Wattie.
A straight-A student from the School of Business at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), James McKinley-Blake was officially announced as the 2025 scholar at a special presentation held at Ryman’s Havelock North village this week.
The scholarship, worth $15,000, is available to second year students at the EIT School of Business and was set up by Ryman Healthcare as part of its agreement with the Wattie family to help students with educational or living costs.
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Sir James Wattie’s granddaughters Caren and Anne joined representatives from EIT, Ryman and village residents to see James awarded.
“Talking to people and taking an interest in them as human beings is what it’s all about,” resident Jamie Thompson told James, who added that education would take him far too.
“As my Dad used to say, ‘Knowledge is no weight to carry around’.
“Enjoy your journey, I’m sure you will.”
Another resident, Julie Jones, added: “It’s great to see young people doing well and to me they just keep getting better and better.”
After completing his Bachelor of Business Studies degree, 21-year-old James plans to continue his studies at MIT for a postgraduate and Master’s degree in Business.
He told residents he is currently enjoying his internship at local digital marketing company FizzyPop.
“If I am fortunate enough to be offered a full time role there, I would be excited to continue developing my skills and learning from the industry,” he said.
“Looking ahead, I’ve always dreamed of one day starting my own business so this scholarship will be a great kickstarter to make that dream possible.
“I want to sincerely thank Ryman Healthcare, the Wattie family and the EIT School of Business for making this opportunity possible,” he said.
“This scholarship will change my life as the money will give me the chance to focus on completing my studies to the best of my abilities and allow me to concentrate all my time and effort on being the best I can be.”
As well as his worthy ambition to start a business selling herb plants in sustainably made pots, James’s outstanding personal qualities really stood out to Village Manager Sally Garvan, who was involved in the selection process.
“He has been a peer tutor to fellow students, he works hard, as can be seen by his amazing grade average, and is a young man full of integrity and honesty, who believes in doing the right thing. These are all values that Ryman espouses too,” Sally said.
Ryman’s General Manager Operations, Lynn Charlton, who led the presentation, said James was an ‘outstanding young man who will go far.’
“It is with great pride and joy that we present the James Wattie Scholarship Award to James.
“We hope that it supports his journey and reminds him that an entire community believes in him.”
Adding to the support was last year’s recipient Amy Saunders, who updated residents on her ‘whirlwind year’ which had taken quite a different direction from the one she expected, after a phone call two days after the scholarship presentation.
“I had planned to do a marketing internship in Tokyo, Japan but I didn’t realise that two days after the presentation I would get a call from the Hurricanes saying they’d love to fly me down to Wellington for an interview.”
Following the interview with the CEO, Amy was appointed Commercial Executive for the Hurricanes, looking after the national and local sponsors. Then two weeks ago, she was promoted to Partnerships Manager!
“I’m really stoked. The boost that Ryman gave me allowed me to pick up my life and move down in just a matter of two weeks and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the scholarship, so I’m extremely grateful for that.”
Head of the School of Business, Dr Gareth Allison, said James was a student that his lecturers and internship supervisor spoke ‘extremely highly of’.
“He’s got a great work ethjic and is just a really nice guy.”
He added: “I’d also like to thank Ryman for their support of our student, it’s very, very appreciated and it’s a relationship that we really value.”
Caren Wattie said it was a pleasure to represent the Wattie family at the presentation: “It was great to hear about the time and commitment to his studies at EIT and we wish James all the best for his future endeavours.”
Supporting James at the presentation were his mum Tracey, brother Toby and grandmother Ngaire.
“I’m extremely proud of him, but I always have been of both of them. They’re really good boys,” Tracey said.
And nan Ngaire agreed: “He’s an amazing child, very thoughtful and caring. We’re very proud of him.”