Thursday 25 August 2022 2:43pm
After five years at Caroline Freeman College, Amber Robertson feels ready to step up to the warden’s role at Hayward.
New Hayward College Warden Amber Robertson has followed a winding path to her dream job.
At various times over the past two decades, she could be found completing a BA in Anthropology, working in Otago college kitchens and teaching in the Human Nutrition Department.
She even ran the Captain Cook Hotel for a period back when it was an iconic student pub.
“It’s been a bit of a weird journey really,” she laughs.
Most recently, Amber was deputy warden of Caroline Freeman College, a post she describes as “the best job ever.”
“There is never a dull moment. It's chaotic, but it’s a really good chaotic. I don't know if it's a job that a lot of people would enjoy in terms of the hours and the busyness but if you thrive on action then it’s the best place to be.
"You get such massive feedback, because the students arrive all meek and mild but by the end of the year they really are adults. Then they come back and tell you about their progress. That’s really special because it's clearly been a meaningful exchange that we’ve had with them.”
"You get such massive feedback, because the students arrive all meek and mild but by the end of the year they really are adults."
After five years at Caroline Freeman, she feels ready to step up to the warden’s role at Hayward.
“What's really special about Otago is that every college still has its own flavour . . . I've got a lot of ideas around how that's going to look once I get a feel for Hayward. My overarching strategy is to make sure that it’s a place where everybody feels like they belong.”
Amber’s first contact with the University was as both a student and staff member – studying for a social work degree while working as a part-time chef in the Unicol kitchens.
“I ended up switching to Anthropology as my major. I really enjoyed it. It was about studying cultures and how people behave in group settings.”
Over the next few years life intervened in the form of children and building an off-the-grid house. Unable to study fulltime, Amber spread her degree over 12 years while working as a chef at Arana College and gaining management experience as a food service manager in a rest home.
Along the way she picked up several Human Nutrition papers to further her interest in food. That evolved into a job as a teaching technician and the close interactions with students pointed to her future career path.
“I ended up being everyone's agony aunt. They were all coming to me with pastoral stuff about the flatting issues, relationship issues, normal young adult stuff. For some reason, I was very approachable to these students. I really enjoyed that part of it.”
When it came to taking the next step in her career, Amber credits the positive influence of Jamie Gilbertson, the larger-than-life former Arana College warden.
“I worked with Jamie at Arana for eight years. He really pushed me to finish my degree so I could go places. I'd always seen the deputy wardens and the jobs they did and my aspiration was to become a deputy, and eventually head of college.”
With that aspiration now a reality, Amber can reflect on the encouragement she has received during her “weird journey”.
“I feel really fortunate because along the way everybody from the university environment, whether they've been an academic or a colleague, has been really supportive. It brings it back to the whole Otago vibe, where, in my experience, there's always been people that have said, ‘You can do this,’ or ‘Why don’t you think about that?’
“Lots of great people I've worked with have been really encouraging. So that's what I've always tried to emulate in my role, encouraging other people to do the same. That's a good way to give back.”