Why Arana?
It's all about balance. “Work hard, play hard, and work hard again” is a statement that sums up a typical approach to life and work for an Arana resident.
You can be yourself in our diverse Arana community whilst taking an active part in community life.
Arana is youth focused with undergraduates and at the same time supportive of the differing needs of Senior and Post Graduate residents.
Academic Muscle
Arana is a community of scholars producing the very best of academic outcomes. The Arana tutorial system is powerful and supports learning in a small group setting with excellent Tutors. Arana's expectation is that every resident will do their best to achieve high academic results.
It’s a simple fact that those residents who embrace the Arana tutorial system have improved outcomes in academic performance.
This is reflected from the improvement of grades achieved by residents each year from 2002 to 2009. For all the papers sat by the residents in 2009, 41% (compared with17% in 2002) grades are A- and above. 58% (compared with 32% in 2002) grades are B+ and above and 74% (compared with 50% in 2002) grades are B and above. We are not complacent with our outstanding results and we will always find room for improvement.
These outstanding results speak for themselves and we also have mechanisms in place to help those students who may be struggling with a particular course to ensure their best chance of achieving that paper. Student performance is closely monitored by staff in consultation with the university to ensure no one is left behind when it comes to academic achievement.
Social
Arana has a balanced and varied social life. At Arana, there is always something to do, such as going out to one of the nearby cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs, cinemas or other entertainment. As well as the informal fun that permeates College life, Arana also organises an exciting array of official formal functions, cultural activities plus a comprehensive orientation programme.
In recent years, the social programme has included: 'Oscars Night', capping parade, BBQ dinners, the pool competition, formal and theme meals, floor dinners, debating, ice skating, karaoke events, quiz nights, post grad evenings, academic dinners and special guest speakers at meals, movie marathons, art week, and much more. Arana enjoys an annual debate and sporting dayout with Carrington College.
We have a St Patricks day function each year and as well we join with our neighbours at Studholme for an “A and S” function and a Battle of the Bands.
It seems that Arana residents very much enjoy dressing up; so themed dinners are a great opportunity to express yourself!
Arana's Annual Spring Gala Ball is well known in Dunedin as being a magnificent affair. This function is an extravaganza of entertainment, pageantry and sophistication. A pre-Ball function held at Arana College is followed by a banquet dinner at the Dunedin Town Hall. Music has been provided by the Collegiate Chamber Orchestra, the Dunedin City Jazz Orchestra (over dinner) and 'Elevator' - Christchurch's premiere cover band. Having stated this - the emphasis is on study first.
Sport
Arana's sporting programme is busy throughout the year. The year begins with inter-floor challenges within Arana in codes such as volleyball, indoor soccer, basketball, netball, indoor hockey and even Dodgeball- all of which are played in a school gymnasium that is close to Arana. This gymnasium also has a climbing wall.
Arana always does well in inter-college sporting challenges, Unipol inter-college Sports Days and inter-college Swimming Sports days. Part of our sporting success can be put down to our motto of 'play hard but play fair' in all the games we compete in. Our rugby teams compete against any challengers from other colleges, and netball and soccer have also proved popular inter-college sports.
Arana residents are always up for a sporting challenge and in recent years staff and residents have entered the local half marathon.
Adventure
Arana is ideally situated to take advantage of the huge potential for outdoor recreation in the South Island. Our ski trip to Queenstown or Wanaka are affordable, provide two days of good skiing and boarding, and also have options for learners or those who just want to have a fun weekend in the mountains. You can add on extras such as jet boating, bungy jumps, off-road motorbiking, a steamboat journey or many of the other fun activities, which Queenstown offers. For many of our North Island and international students, this may be their first trip up to the snow, so we encourage everyone to make the most of this opportunity.
International
Arana was “International” before the term “International” became popular. With residents supported by the Colombo plan Arana has experience of working with people from a great variety of cultures, countries and backgrounds.
Arana welcomes international students from all over the world. We have students coming from China, USA, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand.... the list goes on. International students are very much part of the Arana scene. Arana students participate in an annual international students' festival and various other hall activities.
International students provide an exciting dynamic to the Arana College culture. Events are specifically targeted to this group to help immerse them in Kiwi culture as well as allowing them to share their own cultures with others.
Food
Arana's kitchen is renowned for its healthy and delicious cuisine. In fact, many of our past residents have gone so far as to say it beats home cooking! Convenience for our residents is also a major priority of our food service, so our dining room has an 'open door' policy, with meals available from 7am until 10pm. With flexible options for packed lunches, late lunches, early dinners, late dinner plus brunches which run until midday, nobody need ever miss a meal at Arana! Specific diets may be catered for on request.
The friendly kitchen staff take pride in presenting a full range of international cuisine to restaurant quality on a daily basis. Arana's buffet-style dinners usually include at least two options of main dish, plus vegetarian options, as well as an array of seasonal vegetables and garden-fresh salads and desserts. Although the everyday standard of food at Arana is high, the kitchen staff likes to outdo themselves occasionally with formal dinners and special theme meals such as Chinese, Indian, Teddy Bears Picnic, 'Tex Mex' and Christmas dinner.