Small stories from Lincoln's largest graduation

Last week 1,613 qualifications were awarded to Lincoln University graduates. The Christchurch Town Hall was packed with proud parents and thrilled friends as years of hard work were recognised.

It may have been Lincoln’s largest graduation yet, but each and every student still has their own story to tell. We caught up with some of our graduates on their big day to see where their time at Lincoln had led them.

Regina Taelega had a very proud family at the Town Hall cheering her on, including two sisters, a brother, her partner, and two children.

It was an important day for all of them, as the hardworking Dunedin mum had completed her Master of Business majoring in Global Management and Marketing via distance while juggling full-time work and parenting.

She said studying while working and raising a young son was tough at times, but she found a good rhythm by watching lecture recordings when she had time.

Regina was excited to apply what she had learned to her work at Pacific Trust Otago, an organisation supporting Pacific communities to achieve their health, education and social goals.

“It’s time to see how my knowledge in global management and marketing can have an impact on my community. I don’t know what it looks like, yet, but we’re always finding ways to bring down barriers.”

Anupam Pandey, Nikhil Mehra and Tejbir Singh were very excited to graduate together. The international student trio came from India, but all met at Lincoln University and became fast friends. Now they’re planning a trip around New Zealand together to celebrate.

Nikhil and Anupam each graduated with a Master of Business in Global Management and Marketing, while Tejbir graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture.

Nikhal said it was great to have made lasting friendships while studying across the globe.

“We still stay together. We hang out together, we do everything together. We used to do our group study together.

“We’re planning to visit all of the famous tourist places.”

Despite studying very different subjects, Nikhil and Tejbir both agreed the field trips were their favourite part of their studies. For Nikhil it was a wide variety of businesses, for Tejbir it was the in-depth tours of farms.

Skylah Joy McGill took time off her new job to return for graduation.

The Bachelor of Land and Property Management student was awarded a graduate programme scholarship during her time at Lincoln. It set her up with a job at Quotable Value straight after completing her studies.

She’s been working as a Property Consultant in Hokitika for months now, but made sure to return to Canterbury for the big day.

“I can’t wait to come back. I miss it already.”

Congratulations to all of our 2025 graduates. We can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish. We’ll be posting more photos from the event on social media soon.