Southlander Anna Goble has a passion for both the law and for local government, as well as a love for helping and teaching people, which makes her the perfect type of SIT2LRN facilitator.
She studied law at the University of Otago and completed an arts degree (political science major with New Zealand studies), and has managed to combine those topics in her professional life.
After graduation, she was an Invercargill City Council policy analyst for two years.
“The role of a policy analyst is kind of like a 'jack of all trades, master of none' one where your working day is never dull. I was involved in corporate planning, preparing documents like the Long Term Plan, Annual Plan, Annual Report and then consulting with the public on these documents.
“Having a background in both law and politics was super important to this role and gave me a really good ground knowledge of local government processes.”
Once she completed her law study and was admitted to the bar, she decided to practice as a solicitor, a role she’s had for three years.
“It’s never a dull day as a solicitor – I again feel like a jack of all trades, specialising in civil litigation, relationship property matters, criminal matters, employment matters and the like. Sometimes a local government matter pops up and it certainly is a merge of my two passions.”
Anna tutored at university and discovered she loved helping and teaching people, particularly about things she was passionate about. So, when she spotted SIT2LRN was seeking facilitators with an interest in local government (even though she wasn’t quite sure what being a facilitator involved!), she thought it sounded perfect.
“It was a great way to get my local government ‘fix’ having committed to being a fulltime solicitor.”
She facilitates three papers: BPC230 – Working in a Political Environment; BPC351 - e-Government; and MGT218 – Contract Law and Business Relationships.
“I think I’ve found a pretty perfect marriage of my two passions and it’s been a real eye-opening experience discussing assignment problems with students as you can guarantee they will all come up with totally different answers.”
Someone who likes to be busy, Anna admits she can go a “bit crazy” with too much spare time. Which is just as well, given the marriage celebrant who renovates houses, spends time with her pets and has reality TV as a guilty pleasure, has also managed to intertwine her personal life with her passions – she’s busy wedding planning with fiancé Albie, who she met when she was consulting on a bylaw at council and he was submitting on it.
She’s also relishing the opportunity to share her knowledge with students, even if it’s been a baptism by fire – she started facilitating as the country went into lockdown but with the Covid-19 pandemic “being a political minefield” that’s made for great discussions, and “now with the election and referenda results that’s meant for some fantastic engagement on the courses’ discussion boards”.
“I love helping students and just hope they develop a passion for these areas after studying it – like I did.”