Meet Carrie Weston, who joins us from Tu Puna Waiora and enjoys spending time in nature and helping others express their creativity.
What is your role?
Kia ora! I have recently taken up a secondment position in the Health & Safety team as a Project Coordinator, assisting with day-to-day admin operations while several other team members have stepped away into a more Covid-focused role. Before this position I had the pleasure of briefly supporting the HR Recruitment team. My permanent role, however, is as a Counsellor within the Mental Health & Wellbeing team in Te Puna Waiora.
I am grateful to have been given opportunities to work outside my regular role as it has exponentially broadened my understandings of the larger operational dynamics of Unitec and has enabled me to form connections with staff I would have otherwise never met. Additionally, I have been honoured to observe the exceptional management and leadership skills demonstrated within these new teams. I am, of course, also looking forward to returning to my regular, student-facing space to again work alongside our tauira as they experience their Selves with curiosity and compassion.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I originally trained as an artist and I enjoy being able to continue this practice both professionally (as an arts psychotherapist) and personally (for reflection and self-care). Currently, I seem to be mostly making mixed poetry-montages that utilize discarded children’s books to circle themes of personal health and collective culture.
Outside of this, I enjoy being in nature and around animals. I also like experimenting with cooking, specifically through trying to veganise traditionally non-vegan food recipes.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Durban, South Africa, and immigrated to Auckland once I had completed high school. Personally, I love how the city’s beach inspired a strong surf and skate culture amongst the youth, which in turn influenced a passionate punk scene as well as a thriving art community. Growing up amongst all this instilled in me a spiritual connection to both the environment and the Creativity from which it is borne.
South Africa is fascinating for its cultural diversity and socio-political history. Despite its troubles, the country has produced globally significant freedom-fighters, spiritual leaders, music, art, and cuisine. Additionally, it homes almost 10% of the world’s known wildlife and plant species, despite only making up 1% of the globe’s landmass.
Do you speak any other languages?
While in South Africa, I learnt to speak isiZulu and Afrikaans. This became important when I returned to my hometown (over a decade after leaving it) to write my Master’s dissertation in a small, rural village for orphaned and vulnerable children. Being able to converse with the staff and young people in their mother tongue seemed to deepen our shared connection and respect for one another, which turned out to be imperative groundwork for good and ethical work to take place there. Additionally, my trilingual-ness made me very popular with the kids who needed help with their Afrikaans homework :).
What is your favourite book or movie?
I don’t know if I could name an all-time favourite book or movie, but perpetual loves are anthologies of Bukowski’s poems and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Between work, professional development, and socialising I don’t find myself with a lot of energy for reading these days, and so I find Bukowski’s work to be impactfully brief and punchy enough to make me think and feel in new and unusual ways. My adoration for The Rocky Horror Picture Show extends way back to my adolescence, and since being in New Zealand I try to make an annual habit of watching the movie before making a pilgrimage to the Riff-Raff statue in Hamilton.
A great movie that I have recently watched and can wholeheartedly recommend is The Worst Person In The World (I believe it is still showing in cinemas, albeit not for very much longer…).
My Baby Boo
Pets you want to brag about?
Baby Boo, who occupies dual positions of being the most miserable cat I have ever met and my raison d être,
Tell us an achievement (out of work) that you’re proud of.
Outside of Unitec-related work I have been involved in the inception and development of a collective that works to make the connection between art and mental health / wellbeing more accessible for vulnerable young people living in the North Shore. I can proudly say that we have worked our way from the ground up, from unstable beginnings where we would have funding pulled from projects days before they were due to start (consequently digging into our own funds to ensure the continuation of the work) through to now, five years later, where we are managing several groups and start-ups in a sustainable manner, and our value has been recognised by local boards, government agencies, and most importantly, the young people.
Is there a song that reminds you of a significant time in your life?
Not a specific song, but the whole of the Offspring’s Americana album. My friend bought a copy when it first came out – we were ten years old and proceeded to listen to it on repeat for years. The combination of the fast music, the album artwork of Frank Kozik, and the short-storied songs centred on abject themes had early and profound influences my continuing musical and artistic interests. I still listen to that album at 33 and I am instantly transported back to a time in my life which reverberated with novelty and potential.
Faith No More
Best concert you’ve ever been to? What made it special?
I was fortunate enough to see Faith No More at Westfest in 2015. It was not a show I had particularly planned on going to, but tickets to the festival were not selling well that year and so they were put up on a ‘daily deals’ type site for significantly less than what they were worth. I have been a long-time fan of Mike Patton and to see him live was a teenage dream realised. The show had the most beautiful lighting and stage design I have ever witnessed live, and as it was part of a larger festival, I was also able to attend dope performances by Mayhem, Antemasque, and Frenzal Rhomb.
Who do you most admire and what is it about them that makes them special?
My biggest admiration is for the clients and students who honour me with their trust, inspire me with their resilience, and privilege me to walk alongside them in the therapeutic space.