Building Services cadet Tereora Tapaitau and GDC chief building specialist Ian Petty

Tereora Tapaitau has secured a building services cadetship with the Gisborne District Council after studying carpentry at EIT.

“I wasn’t good at maths but I stuck with it,” he says of his early schooling. “I wasn’t good at English, but I loved classical studies and got into reading through
that.”

Tereora’s family moved from the Cook Islands to Auckland when he was four. After finishing school, he studied for the National Diploma in Architectural Technology in Auckland. Moving to Te Araroa In 2014, he gave his drafting a practical edge by studying for the Certificate in Introductory Trades Skills (Carpentry) at EIT Ruatoria and then the Certificate in Carpentry (Level 3) at EIT Tairāwhiti.

“We did joinery exercises and learned a lot of the traditional carpentry skills. Builders used to do everything. There is a lot more specialisation now, but we learned it all.”

Tereora Tapaitau has secured a building services cadetship with the Gisborne District Council after studying carpentry at EIT.

“I wasn’t good at maths but I stuck with it,” he says of his early schooling. “I wasn’t good at English, but I loved classical studies and got into reading through
that.”

Tereora’s family moved from the Cook Islands to Auckland when he was four. After finishing school, he studied for the National Diploma in Architectural Technology in Auckland. Moving to Te Araroa In 2014, he gave his drafting a practical edge by studying for the Certificate in Introductory Trades Skills (Carpentry) at EIT Ruatoria and then the Certificate in Carpentry (Level 3) at EIT Tairāwhiti.

“We did joinery exercises and learned a lot of the traditional carpentry skills. Builders used to do everything. There is a lot more specialisation now, but we learned it all.”