A former beautician turned social worker, Melissa (Mel) Pol says her career change came about by becoming less attracted to dealing with the aesthetic "outside" of people and toward dealing with "the real issues".
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology's popular Bachelor of Social Work proved to be the chrysalis for Mel's transformation.
"I think I've always been that friend or family member that has looked after others and wanted to see the best for other people," she says.
"However as a solo mother of two kids, one with special needs, I realised I needed to do something more with my life. To achieve my degree and then get my current role - an opportunity of a lifetime - is just wow."
The bicultural social work degree offers students the competent, ethical, research-informed and critically reflective skills required by the Social Workers' Registration Board for provisional registration as a social worker.
Fresh out of her studies, Mel interviewed for a vacancy at Tūwharetoa Health. They were so impressed with what they saw, they offered her a newly created role in service provision working with pregnant women, and children up to the age of 5 - a level of responsibility rarely given to new graduates.
"It is amazing and I'm pretty sure unheard of because they like to get new social workers to work under somebody else. I have just been so lucky.
"The best part is I get to see what I learned in action, being able to sit down with somebody and see where they are at in their life and be able to dissect it for the best result. Years of paperwork and essays turn into a reality that you can surprisingly instantly recall."
With the bachelor's content confirming she had selected the right path, Mel's passion quickly became evident in her marks. The mostly grade-A student puts her academic success down to her desire to learn, and the interesting and interactive way her tutors presented the course content, which took her down a path of self-discovery at the same time.
"I just ate it up. Claire Schnell, who was the learning advisor at the time, and the ladies in the Mokoia Campus library were so pivotal in my marks, I don't know what I would have done without them."
Commuting from Taupō each day, Mel made use of the institute's free Taupō-to-Rotorua student bus service, and afterschool care subsidies. These helped her achieve her goal of being the first on her side of the family to graduate with a degree.
"That moment was awesome. My family were proud to see me graduate, I even had my great aunt from Hamilton come down for it and she was like 85.
"I think sometimes people are put off by these apparent boundaries to accessing study, but it really is so achievable - I am living proof."