Graduates on parade

LEADING THE WAY: The City of Gisborne Highland Pipe Band led last week’s procession of EIT graduates to the War Memorial Theatre for the graduation ceremony. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

For Kaiya Te Ota Collier, Amber Carter and Kayla Jordon graduating from EIT Tairāwhiti last week marked the end of hard study and even harder life challenges.

Seeing the care nurses provided for her own family during a time of grief motivated Kaiya Te Ota Collier to get a nursing degree from EIT.

Twenty-two-year-old Kaiya (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata) is now working as a nurse in the orthopaedic rehabilitation ward at Gisborne Hospital after graduating at the EIT Tairāwhiti ceremony last week.

Kaiya, who moved from Upper Hutt to Gisborne when she was about 10 and attended Lytton High School, had initially wanted to be a physiotherapist, but a family tragedy changed that.

“My cousin passed away a few years ago and just seeing the way the nurses treated our family in a hard time, made me realise that I wanted to be that person for someone else’s family.

“When I found out that EIT Tairāwhiti offered the Bachelor of Nursing, I thought, ‘well why not’, and decided to do it. It also meant that I would be able to be around my family while doing it.”

Before she enrolled in the degree, Kaiya first did the NZ Certificate in Study and Career Preparation Level 4, taking the Hauora|Nursing/Health Pathway option.

“It is a six-month bridging programme, which I think was a good step towards the nursing degree. It really did lay the foundations for me.”

Kaiya began her degree in 2019, with her first year being fees-free under the Government’s scheme, and she completed it last year before moving on to work at Gisborne Hospital.

She says she enjoyed the programme, especially the work placements.

“I loved being able to get into the hospitals and around the community to actually practise what you learn in class.

I am not really a pen and books kind of person, but more hands on, so it was quite good to get out there and actually put what you learn into practice.

“The first year we went into aged-care for a couple of weeks and then the second year we had placements in mental health, hospitals and community work.”

Kaiya says she also enjoyed the support her lecturers gave her and the other students.

“They know the industry. They are trained and they come with a lot of experience. A few of them even still did shifts so they were up to date and had all of that knowledge, which I thought was pretty awesome.”

As for her career path, Kaiya is enjoying being on the orthopaedics rehabilitation ward.

“It is a good stepping stone, and the team is always keen to give me a hand and teach me new things.”

Kaiya is now completing the Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) programme which is designed to support graduates with professional development to transition from graduate to competent registered nurse.

When she was about 20, Amber Carter realised that it was fulfilling to support people through difficult times, and that has led her into a career in social work.

Her hard work and dedication culminated in her graduating with a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) at the EIT Tairāwhiti graduation ceremony.

Amber, 25, is a social worker dealing with family violence. She says her background was instrumental in her embarking on a career that helps families in need.

“During the time I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, I began to realise that I liked being the person that people talk to when they just need someone to chat to and listen to them.”

She decided she would enrol at EIT Tairāwhiti to follow her social work dream. Before that, she completed the NZ Certificate in Education and Social Sciences Level 4 in 2017.

“It was a good experience. I think it prepared me well for the degree, especially since it had an academic writing class as part of it. And I met a couple of women on that course who continued on to do the degree with me. So I had a good support base that came out of that too.”

When Amber began the social work degree, she knew that she was doing the right qualification.

“I really liked the programme. Four years is a long time, but it was a really good experience and a good foundation for the work we do now.”

She said she had been looking forward to graduating, which had been “a long time coming”.

Overcoming severe adversity has become second nature to student Kayla Jordan, who graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies (Accounting).

It has been a hard journey for Kayla — one that has required her to make some difficult decisions and also overcome some hurdles, including dealing with mental health issues.

After years as a stay-at-home mother, Kayla decided it was time to do something for herself and study at EIT Tairāwhiti with the aim of benefiting those around her.

It is a move that has paid off for the 31-year-old as not only does she have a good job, but she graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies (Accounting) at the EIT Tairāwhiti graduation ceremony on Friday.

It was not without its challenges as a result of a personal tragedy. Added to that, Kayla (Te Aupouri) says that her career turned out to be a little different from the degree she studied, as she is now a Human Resources Officer at Apata Group Limited in Gisborne. She also works two days a week as an orchard hand.

Originally from Te Kao, a small settlement north of Kaitaia, Kayla moved down to Gisborne in 2009. She has two children, Adam and Minnie.

“I say this proudly, my job was mum to them, but I think that’s why I ended up studying because I wanted something for me to benefit those around me. So that’s why I ended up at the EIT. I’m not discrediting the mums and dads in our lives who are stay-at- home parents, but as my children got older, I wanted to try something for me. That’s what started the journey.”

That journey was a degree at EIT.

“Technically I did the Diploma in Applied Business, and then it just sort of fell in my lap. Some of my friends were moving on and I went, ‘oh, there’s a degree in this’. So I decided to see what I could do.”

Kayla says that originally she had wanted to do a degree in management, but she was persuaded to major in accounting.

She started the degree in 2016 and finished in April last year, but graduation was delayed because of Covid-19.

In 2018 she had to take a step back and “figure out what I wanted in life”.

It was at this stage that Kayla’s mental health took a knock, and she had depression with suicidal thoughts.

“I can share it now because I am through it. I ended up with depression.

“Then the loss of my best friend through the same situation got me out of it. I got help, was diagnosed with ADHD and started getting my life back on track towards the end of 2019.

“Even though I was still studying, it was the only constant in my life to keep me alive. It was then that I realised that my children were doing well with their dad, and I needed to get it together.”

The support of EIT staff and her fellow students also helped her get through the tough times.

Graduation was a busy time for Kayla, with not much time to celebrate immediately afterwards as her son had a football tournament in Napier the next day.

It was a double celebration for her whānau. Her mother, Manu Karena, w inspired by her daughter, started studying as well. and finished her Bachelor in Teaching from another tertiary institute in July.

Added to this is the special item of clothing Kayla wore at the ceremony — a cloak that belonged to her great great-grandfather, Reverend Mutu Kapa.

“When my Aunt Frances was little, her grandfather, my great great-grandfather, always said to do something with numbers. She became a banker.

“Reverend Kapa passed long before me, and my aunt told my mum the story when she found out I was studying accounting. I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed about it because it is a very cool story. The Reverend was great with people; he was impeccable with numbers.”

Kayla would have no hesitation in recommending EIT to anyone and she hopes to return soon to do the Postgraduate Certificate in Business Analytics.