University may not be for everyone, but for first year student Andrew Fisher, it is exactly where he wants to be.

Now immersing himself into his second paper, which will go towards a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Anthropology, it has been a long journey to get there which has involved a lot of planning, grit and determination on Andrew’s part.

However, Andrew insists that all the hard work has definitely been worth it, and feels very proud of his achievements.

“For my first paper I got a B, which I was pretty happy about and I am really enjoying the critical thinking paper that I recently started and how it challenges my thinking!,” Andrew says.

Equally as proud of Andrew’s achievements is his family, but also the team at Geneva Elevator Transition Services who started working alongside Andrew during his last year at Henderson High School to help ease the transition from school to tertiary study.

“Look, Andrew is where he is because he was willing to put the work in that was needed. We all knew he had the ability and drive; it was just a matter of sorting out exactly what he wanted to do and how we could support him to get there, Geneva Elevator Transition Services Specialist Barbara Mercer says.

“I am so proud of the academic achievements Andrew has made during the time, but also how he continues to achieve in other areas of his life too. It has been so pleasing to watch and be part of his transformation into the confident and independent young man he is today.“

When Barbara and the Geneva Elevator Transition team first began to work with Andrew their initial interactions involved getting to know him and his family.

Following these sessions it then became apparent as to where Andrews’s skills and interests lay, so the foundations were laid for them to plan collectively on how to get him into his chosen career path.

Part of this process was coming to the realisation that Andrew was extremely interested in history and culture, so following a series of meetings with not only themselves, but also Disability Coordinators, Enrolment Consultants and Career Advisers it was decided that a degree in Anthropology would be the best course of action and Massey University would be the best place to study.

“Once this decision was made, it was a matter of mapping out a detailed plan to help Andrew see the things that he needed to do to reach this goal and how we were going to support him to do it.

“One of these things was achieving Level 3 NCEA, so he could gain University Entrance, which he completed successfully. We were all so happy for him once he knew his results and you just couldn’t wipe the smile off his face!,” Barbara says.

Barbara wanted to also celebrate the invaluable life skills Andrew had gained in the short time that Geneva Elevator had supported him.

“One of the biggest challenges that Andrew faced, when he started studying, was being able to navigate his way to and from university, which is a two hour journey, as well as navigate his way around campus.

“No challenge was too big for him though, as after only six weeks of catching a taxi to uni Andrew felt confident enough to catch public transport. He also took pictures and mapped out where all his lectures were, so felt confident with where he needed to be.”

Barbara says it had been an absolute pleasure working alongside Andrew, and his family, to help him achieve his goals.

“Andrew really is the star of his own story and it people like him which keep me motivated to do the very best I can for the people we support.”