From high school to health science - ex teacher graduates with Master's Degree

Elizabeth McKay, an ex-high school teacher and soon-to-be mother of two, is celebrating receiving her Master of Health Science from EIT. Photo / Supplied

Hawke's Bay woman Elizabeth McKay has celebrated the first of two milestone events, with her master's graduation last week and the birth of her baby fast approaching.

Finishing her postgraduate degree in April, Elizabeth received her Master of Health Science at EIT Hawke's Bay's graduation ceremony on September 9 at the Napier Municipal Theatre.

The 34-year-old has come a long way since enrolling in EIT's Bachelor of Sport and Recreation in 2007, having finished Year 13 at Havelock North High School the year before.

An avid race walker at high school, Elizabeth was good enough to have gone to the New Zealand Athletics and Long-Distance Nationals. She is also an accomplished cyclist, having won an East Coast mountain biking championship in 2010.

So it made sense that her passion for sport would lead her to pursue a career in it.

"I really enjoyed my three years studying the degree, and the lecturers were like family.
We weren't just bums on seats; it was a real whānau-based learning environment."

After her degree, Elizabeth completed a graduate diploma in teaching from Massey University on Hawke's Bay EIT campus before working as a teacher at Tamatea High School from 2013 to 2016.

While spending the next few years caring for her son, Elizabeth became motivated to study further for her master's degree and returned to EIT in 2020 to start her postgraduate journey.

"The driving force behind the master's was to be more qualified, so I could increase my career opportunities so that my son and I could have a better life," Elizabeth said.

To help her on her way, the young mum was awarded the EIT Master of Health Science Scholarship, awarded by EIT's School of Health and Sport Science in collaboration with the EIT Institute of Sport and Health.

"I applied for the scholarship just when Covid-19 was coming to New Zealand and was lucky enough to receive it, and it allowed me to conduct research for my postgraduate degree," she said.

Elizabeth's master's thesis, The effects of strength and balance training using a Rock-it Board, investigated the effectiveness of a Rock-it Board training programme for developing strength and balance to help prevent falls in an older population.

"My plan had been to finish my master's by November last year, but when we had that lockdown in September, it meant that I could not retest my subjects, which was an important part of my research," she explained.

Elizabeth has ambitions to teach in the tertiary sector and would love to one day work alongside the staff in the EIT (soon to be Te Pūkenga) School of Health and Sport Science.

"I believe there will be a PhD in my future, but for now, it is all about my whānau."