Class of 2025 Front Freya Foly, Ashley Bamber, Amber Hill, Belinda Le Roux. Back Gurman Singh, Nicole Brown, Baily Coutts, Mitchell Hopping, Melissa Harris, Rosie Stenersen-Kain. Absent on the night Makena Crosby, Joanna McCormick, Nirmala Patidar, Shan Yuen Tay and Yanmei Zhu

Friends, colleagues and family shared in the joy of the seventh New Zealand dispensing opticians graduation, held during the Association of Dispensing Opticians New Zealand (ADONZ) 2025 conference. Ten of the 15 newly qualified DOs were present at Rydges Latimer Christchurch to receive their Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing, pose for photos and hear kind words and messages of inspiration.

Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD) director and educator James Gibbins said he was extremely impressed by the award winners and all the students. “When we recognise that some faced major life challenges in the background, their achievement becomes even more impressive,” he said. “It’s a huge achievement. Your résumé has received a supercharge and your future options have multiplied. We wish you every success and good fortune as you embark on your future careers.”

ADONZ’s Optiblocks Education Committee member Steve Stenersen congratulated the graduates, saying, “You’ve survived your course, working countless hours and trying to explain to friends and family that you don’t just sell glasses. You’ve mastered both technical and people skills, learning to listen to what is said and what is not said. What you do for your patients is life-changing.” He reminded graduates to keep their sense of humour and stay curious.

Someone who clearly had some insider knowledge on how to be an awesome DO was Stenersen’s daughter, Rosie Stenersen-Kain, who not only topped the class but whose efforts won her the David Wilson Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement. This honour is not presented annually but bestowed only when a student’s performance and conduct reflect the exceptional qualities that embody the ethos of the late Dr David Wilson, a much-loved educator and mentor in optical dispensing.

Winner of the David Wilson Memorial Award, Rosie
Stenersen-Kain and proud dad, Steve Stenersen

Those gathered heard that Stenersen-Kain had overcome significant health challenges to achieve the highest overall mark in ACOD’s nine-year history. She follows in the footsteps of her dad, who was also first in his graduation class, and mum, Sue, who in 1998 won first place in her TAFE DO course in Australia and the NSW State Medal for Optical Dispensing.