When the student becomes the master

Nooroa Tamarua has a unique story of success.

Nooroa’s natural talent for nurturing success was originally evident through her involvement in her community where she guided and supported others towards a meaningful career, whilst always maintaining her philosophy of “work smart, not hard”. It wasn’t until she saw a newspaper advert for enrolment onto Early Childhood Education programmes, that she realised her potential to transfer her leadership skills into a meaningful career for herself.

Nooroa consequently enrolled on a level 3 early childhood education programme at New Zealand Career College. Her potential was quickly realised by NZCC’s tutors, and so she advanced onto the level 5 National Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care. Upon completion, she continued her studies at AUT as a student of the National Diploma in Teaching (ECE, Pasifika) programme. Graduating meant she could finally put her knowledge into action, and her ECE career started as an Early Childhood Educator at a South Auckland pre-school.

But Nooroa’s talent for leading individuals towards something better, was still yearning to be put to good use. This is when she applied for her position she is now employed, as an ECE lecturer at New Zealand Career College, the very place her ECE experience began. While the ink was still drying on her employment contract, Nooroa gave her alumni address to NZCC’s graduates of 2009 from the Waitakere, Manukau, and North Shore campuses. She urged students to utilise the support that NZCC offers its students. Nooroa stated that NZCC’s “door was always open; the team were available to talk about anything. Without NZCC [she] would not be able to join one of the fastest growing private tertiary educators in our community”.

Nooroa’s return to NZCC on the other side of the table, as a lecturer rather than a student, is a shining example of what can be achieved if you choose to make that step and apply for a programme at New Zealand Career College.