Growing up in an economically disadvantaged patch of Northland only served to fuel Angeline Nielsen's determination to study law and help Maori get better representation in court.
The 40-year-old grandmother proved age was no barrier to achieving your goal in life when she and Jade Newton were admitted to the bar in the High Court at Whangarei last week.
Both practise law in Auckland but chose to be admitted in Northland where Ms Nielsen was brought up and where Ms Newton's father hails from.
The former said the older she got, the more life experience she gained, the more her passion for law had grown.
"People still don't know their rights and I wanted to become their advocate and teach them things like rights to Maori land and access to the justice system.