Zoe Limmer 

Zoe began the year not knowing what Trades Academy would be like, nor what it would be like attend the NMIT Campus. Zoe says she made the right choice as she is loving the Health & Support Services course. Zoe has particularly enjoyed listening to the many different speakers from the health and wellbeing sectors who visit students in class, especially those speakers who talk about living with a disability and the impact this has on their lives. “These speakers were real and it was interesting to learn about their experiences and how they support others with disabilities in the community.”

Zoe thinks the facilities at NMIT are excellent, especially as the classrooms are equipped and set up like a real laboratory and a hospital ward. “It’s real and this helps us to get familiar with what hospital nursing might be like.“

A highlight for Zoe so far are the visits the students have made to a local rest home where they have enjoyed meeting with the residents, talking and playing games like noughts & crosses. “It’s so nice to listen to the residents’ stories and to make people smile.”

Zoe is unsure where the future may take her but she values her Trades Academy opportunity as this has allowed her to find out what tertiary study looks like. She now knows that you don’t have to leave Nelson to access tertiary education.