One learner’s story

One learner’s story

Last updated 28 August 2019
Last updated 28 August 2019

I didn’t think of it at the time but I was the first one in my whānau to do tertiary study. My Pākehā dad worked away and we had a lovely stay-at-home Māori mother. My five siblings and I grew up in Lower Hutt, in a State house neighbourhood where everyone pretty much knew one another. 

 Person carrying book and folder

I tried studying at Victoria University of Wellington at first – studying law, philosophy and English literature, but realised I (and my family) didn’t really have the money for me to keep studying for three years, plus I didn’t like the large classroom sizes. You felt like a number and no one really cared about you.

So I changed and applied for a one-year journalism course. That was before it became a degree subject and it wasn’t easy to get in either. They only took 50 people out of 500 applicants, so I felt pretty lucky to get in.

I just loved it. We had a class of 25 – there were the rocker, rich kids who already had a degree and I got to meet other Māori kids from Rotorua and Northland – we were a real mishmash. I got to learn from real journalists and enjoy holiday work experiences at the Levin Chronicle and Nelson Evening Mail. Plus we got paid for it – that really helped.

When I graduated, I started at The Evening Post as a cadet, which meant I was still learning on the job. They used to hold sessions about how the law worked and then you would go with the grumpy chief court reporter to “see if you could hack it”. The best thing was meeting people. You could meet a mayor, a ditch-digger and a gnome collector all in one day. 

Today, I work as a communications manager, but I still look back fondly on that one year diploma. It really did a great job in providing me with the skills I needed to get my first job and then my work experience kept me employed for years. I also returned to polytechnic for more tertiary study in health promotion and management.

So if you’re in college – give polytechnics or an apprenticeship a go. You’ll love it.