For Holly, having her older sister around made a real difference.
"It has been really good having her here. The first day is always the worst day - you come in, you don't know anybody...but (with your sister) you go into the classroom together, do the introductions together." Her initial first-day nerves have eased now, and she also sings the praises of the Healthcare Tutor, Vanessa Seconi who has taught her throughout the programme.
"I love Vanessa. She's amazing."
Maria and Julia are both 19 and come from an even larger family - they are two of a set of triplets, in a family of 12 children. As the eighth child in the family line, Maria is the eldest triplet. A sister in between is number 9, and then Julia is the youngest triplet at number 10.
Maria and Julia are of Dutch heritage but were born in Auckland, and moved to Whanganui when they were nearly three. They were home-schooled with three other siblings, and looked to Training For You as a tertiary option. Maria joined Training For You primarily with a view to gaining employment - she is studying on the Business Administration and Computing, Level 2 programme. She is now considering taking tertiary study further. Maria has gained confidence during her time at Training For You, and her skill set in communication has increased.
"It's a lot easier now to talk to people. In the first week, I was pretty quiet in the classroom - I didn't really talk to anyone, so it was good to have Julia around. At lunchtime I would go and sit with her. But now I'm doing Powerpoint presentations in our class, and a speech."
Julia loves taking care of young children - "We have lots of nieces and nephews" - so she joined the Working With Children programme this year, after discovering that an older sister was a graduate of the programme some years earlier. She is now on her way to completing the National Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care, Level 3.
"Surprisingly on my first day, I wasn't feeling shy at all, which is weird, because I usually am shy. I just felt comfortable here". She has found that having her sibling on campus has been an advantage.
"Sometimes we have days where my sister and I hang out together at lunchtime, and sometimes we have days where we go our own way, but sometimes I just see her and it just makes me feel more comfortable."
Off campus, the girls all have quite diverse pastimes. Maria is a fan of Korean and Japanese cinema, and the Korean and Japanese music genres known as 'Kpop' and Jpop'. She also enjoys art, drawing and gaming and is planning to travel to Korea and Japan.
Julia's passion is writing, and her dream job is to publish novels. Travel is also in her life plan, with India being her favoured destination.
"The culture fascinates me."
Hannah and Holly have a shared interest in collecting hot wheels cars. With more than 150 cars between them, each one is catalogued and identified in a journal, with unique character names inspired by TV shows and films.
For the small campus, the novelty of family members studying together seems to be common. Training For You has had sisters studying simultaneously before, and hosts two sets of mother and daughter, and a husband and wife.
These students along with the sisters, are testament to the organisation's homely environment and welcoming family culture.
Training For You is a Category 1 tertiary education provider. The organisation provides National and New Zealand Level 1-5 programmes through online learning, and on-campus classes in Whanganui.
Programmes on offer include Early Childhood Education, Teacher Aiding, Administration and Technology, Healthcare and Working with Children, as well as the NZCALNE Level 5 qualification for vocational tutors and workplace trainers.
Training for You is accepting enrolments now.
For more information visit the website www.trainingforyou.co.nz
