4 January 2002 'Do yourself a favour'

Decisions, decisions! Life seems full of them when you're in that limbo-land between leaving school and that big question "What am I going to do this year?" Television commercials, radio ads, newspaper features – pulling you here, tugging you there, suggesting, advising, recommending. And parents aren't much better. They don't leave you alone, do they, when it comes to this education thing.

Do yourself a favour and consider university. Statistics prove absolutely that in the long run and on the whole university graduates earn more and do better than non-graduates. Makes sense then – go to university, get yourself a degree or diploma, and get on with life. End of story!

And if you're wondering where the story starts, call Lincoln University and arrange a chat with one of the people called "liaison officers". Maybe you remember a liaison officer talking to groups at your school. Well get on the phone to Lincoln – 0800 10 60 10 – and ask for a personal appointment. Renata Cooper or Jane Edwards are the pair who will help you with those decisions, decisions, decisions.

Laying the facts on the table and in a no-fuss way, they will tell you all the advantages of a university education and explain the distinctive features of a "Lincoln education".

They will tell you what makes Lincoln so special and why people the world over – from Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon in London to international authority on breast cancer research Rob Sutherland at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney – are proud to have "Lincoln University" on their CV's.

Don't get them started on the New Zealand-based list, it's too long, but you might like to ask about rising All Black star Richard McCaw and rower Jude Ellis who crossed the Atlantic in last year's epic race.

And what is it that makes Lincoln so special?

First of all it's a niche university – that means it's not big and broad but focussed on a particular range of a subjects. In Lincoln's case they are all connected with the land, the resources we find in and on the land, and the way people interact with them, from growing (agriculture and horticulture), to buying and selling (commerce), to visiting (tourism), to staying places (hotel and hospitality management), to enjoying leisure and recreational activities (recreation management), to designing (landscape architecture), to building (natural resources engineering), to analysing policy about the allocation of resources (resources studies), to understanding how everything works (science).

Secondly, the Lincoln approach to tertiary education is applied and practical. Teaching and research aren't locked between the covers of textbooks or hidden away in an ivory tower. At Lincoln you will learn as much through "real life" applications and case studies as you will from written texts. The University is proud of its "applied approach" and employers appreciate the "work readiness" of its graduates. Lincoln graduates "hit the ground running", is a common comment from employers.

Thirdly, the University's various support services ensure that when you are studying you have every opportunity for back-up and help from how to write essays to how to prepare for exams. The University's Student Leaming centre exists to help students succeed, and the University as a whole is success orientated.

With the cost of education today, both you and your parents will appreciate the value for money which Lincoln gives.

The high level of computerisation on the campus, with excellent student access to workstations and the web-based availability of much teaching material – it's called Learn@Lincoln – are further distinctive features of the "Lincoln way".

On top of all this, Lincoln is a very sociable place. It's not just a "local" or provincial university but a fully national and international one. Because of the niche nature of its programmes, some of which are offered nowhere else, Lincoln draws its students from a very wide base. That's' great for getting to know a real cross-section of people from all over the country and the world. You will certainly be on the "mainstream of life" at a campus where there are students from over 55 different countries.

And if students from so many countries can find their way to the campus, what's a short bus or car ride from Christchurch city! Yes, Lincoln University is very handy to this major metropolitan centre. Twenty minutes by car, a fraction longer by bus. It's rural but not remote, which means there's no need to turn location into a big "decision factor".

So do yourself a favour and enrol at Lincoln University.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.