Helping students is a natural fit for Ana

With a background as a campus manager for a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), the position as Student Support Officer at Mater Education was a natural fit for Ana Finau. 

Born in Tonga, Ana migrated to New Zealand at the age of seven where she completed high school and a Diploma of Business Administration before moving to Australia in 2010 and expanding her family. 

Four and a half years ago Ana joined the team at Mater Education in the student services team. 

“With a massive recruitment intake and diverse population, our students are from all walks of life and backgrounds and our role in student services is to prepare them for active participation in the community,” Ana said. 

“We want to make sure our students meet their academic, personal development and emotional needs.” 

Ana likes to describe her position in student services to be just like nursing—she cares for her students during one of the most vulnerable and scary times of their lives. 

Ana's position doesn’t only deal with administration and social tasks, she is also given the opportunity to contribute her knowledge and past experiences to guide and counsel the students to find their individual academic paths in a more flexible educational environment. 

“The opportunity to work within a team that has different faculties and various extra-curricular interests has allowed me to form friendships with a diverse group of staff and students, some of whom I probably would not have met had it not been for this job,” Ana said. 

“I love the challenge this position brings—mainly the opportunity to be creative and do things outside the box.”