From left: Bruce Gallie from Colliers International, bursary winner Charlotte Newson and Hilary Kitt.
This year’s Marcus Kitt Memorial Bursary has been awarded to final-year business student Charlotte Newson in an emotional presentation at Massey University’s Auckland campus. The former Orewa College student, who is undertaking a Bachelor of Business majoring in finance and property, was chosen to receive the $5,000 scholarship that was established by global real estate services company Colliers International.
The firm partnered with the university to create the bursary in memory of long-serving staff member and Massey alumnus Marcus Kitt, who died in 2015 after developing a brain tumour. The father of two young children had worked for Colliers for eight years in Auckland, London and Jakarta.
The criteria for the bursary included evidence of academic achievement, strong communication and interpersonal skills and the potential to succeed in a real estate career.
“Marcus exemplified all these characteristics while he worked for Colliers, becoming a successful member of our commercial leasing business,” says Bruce Gallie, Colliers’ chief operating officer in New Zealand.
“The bursary is designed to encourage excellence in real estate studies and is an ideal memorial to Marcus. We hope it encourages students to consider a commercial property career, assisting them at a financial level to do so.”
Easing the financial pressures of study
Ms Newson says she was “over the moon” when she learned she was to receive the scholarship.
“It felt as though my hard work was starting to pay off. The effort and determination I'd been putting in was getting noticed and it has fuelled me to continue striving to do the best I can.”
She is also is grateful for the support it will provide in her final year of study.
“Being a full time student is tough financially, which is very stressful,” she says. “The bursary will help to ease that financial pressure for me this year. I will be able to cut back on the hours I work part-time and have more time to focus on my studies.”
Property senior lecturer Dr Susan Flint-Hartle says Ms Newson impressed the selection committee with her maturity and work ethic.
“Charlotte stood out within an excellent group of applicants. She is a hardworking, successful student who has mapped out her career track in property and we are confident she will have much to offer both the industry and her future employer,” she says.
Marcus Kitt’s widow, Hilary Kitt, presented Ms Newson with the award and she says she is now looking forward to forging a career in property valuation.
“I see myself working for a successful, respected firm who employ people that are as passionate about property as I am.”