22 December 2008 CUP course set sports achiever on degree path

 

For double New Zealand sports representative Kendra Cocksedge of New Plymouth, enrolment at Lincoln University has opened many exciting doors and helped deliver some
exciting rewards.

A talented sportswoman, Kendra has represented New Zealand in women's rugby and women's cricket. She took the field from the bench in the two Transtasman tests in Australia in October and has toured to Samoa with the New Zealand Sevens Team. In cricket she's been a regular at provincial level for Central Districts and nationally was chosen for the New Zealand women's A Squad in the 2006-2007 season.

At Lincoln University she's on a Prime Minister's Scholarship - awarded to nationally ranked athletes of demonstrated ability within their sporting code. She was also awarded a Lincoln University Rugby Blue at the 2008 Lincoln University Awards Night to match Rugby and Cricket Blues won in 2007.

Kendra, a past pupil of New Plymouth Girls' High School, is studying for a Bachelor of Recreation Management in Sport with the aim of being a PE teacher. That's the long-term door her Lincoln University degree should open, and it all started with a Certificate in University Preparation completed in Semester One 2007. Successful completion of the CUP programme gave her entry to degree studies and Kendra looks back on the programme as "very good preparation" for full academic study. She found it "enjoyable" and "beneficial", the tutors were "skilled and experienced" and she definitely recommends the programme.

The CUP programme at Lincoln University is designed as an entrance pathway to university for a range of people - those who haven't gained the necessary NCEA requirements; those who are wanting to try out university life before committing to a degree; and adults wishing to return to take up formal learning in the tertiary sector.

Lincoln University's CUP programme is conducted through its Foundation Studies and English Language Centre. The Director of the centre, Derek Chapman, says he is delighted with the way CUP students such as Kendra move forward into degree study.

"The programme has given so many participants an opportunity to follow their ambitions which they might otherwise not have been able to do. It provides a very worthwhile pathway into tertiary study."

Alongside completing her degree Kendra has a number of parallel sporting ambitions ahead - the women's rugby sevens world cup tournament in Dubai in 2009 and the women's rugby fifteens world cup in London in 2010. With one CUP programme behind her, she hopes her aim of being on the selection radar for these further two Cups will be equally successful!

For further information about the CUP programme at Lincoln University contact Derek Chapman, Director, Foundation Studies and English Language Centre, Lincoln University, telephone (03) 3252811 ext 7662, or call 0800 10 60 10, or email: foundation@lincoln.ac.nz