Growing up around hospitals, it was only natural Rotorua woman Allyson Jaques ended up pursuing a career in healthcare.
Ms Jaques, a former John Paul College student, is about to start her second year of nursing at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
The degree is tracking to be the Rotorua campus' most popular course for the year, based on student enrolments.
"It was quite different coming out of high school, the work wasn't too bad, there were some ups and downs but the teachers and career advisers were super supportive.
"There are a few reasons I ended up going into nursing but mainly I think it was because I spent a lot of time in hospitals growing up because my stepfather had cancer.