Caroline Bureka
Caroline was a Year 12 student at Marlborough Girls’ College in 2015 when she enrolled in the Trades Academy Health & Support Services course, which was based at the Nelson NMIT campus. Caroline had always had an interest in caring for people and wanted to explore the idea of becoming a Registered Nurse as a future career option.
Trades Academy was the stepping stone Caroline needed to make the move into tertiary study. “My tutor at Trades Academy was inspirational and encouraged all the students by exposing them to many different aspects of the caring professions from social work and nursing through to physiotherapy.” Caroline reflects that the skills practiced in the Trades Academy Health and Support Services course, such as listening, communication and relationship building, are all skills that have helped her become a better communicator and a more confident nursing student.
After completing her Trades Academy programme and then Year 13, Caroline left school and worked in a café to fund a holiday to visit family and friends in the Pacific Islands. On her return to New Zealand she continued working but at the same time enrolled to study at NMIT on the Level 4 Nursing Foundation course. “This cemented the idea that this is what I really wanted to do.” After successfully completing the Level 4 Certificate, Caroline enrolled for the full time Bachelor of Nursing degree at NMIT at the beginning of 2019.
“I’ve discovered that if you really want to do something you really need to put the effort in and get on with it. Being part of the Trades Academy gave me the confidence to enrol at NMIT to study full time in an area where I want to work in the future. My degree course gives me real professional experience and practice in my nursing training.”
Caroline’s goal is to now complete her nursing degree, work in New Zealand to gain experience and then one day work with an international nursing agency, working to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the Pacific Islands.
Caroline’s advice to other school students thinking about Trades Academy is: “Give it a go. You’ll never know unless you give it a try.”