Working with bright-eyed youngsters in a childcare centre is a calling for EIT graduate Aspen Edwards.
The 21-year-old loves her job at Hastings Lollipops Educare. “They’re like part of my extended family,” she says of the children. “You definitely get attached to them – they’re so neat, so cool. Not one of them is the same and they all bring something to our environment.”
Aspen started in her full-time role after completing Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) studies late last year. But she was already experienced and familiar with the centre, having had a block practicum and then a part-time position at Lollipops while studying for her degree.
“It’s a field-based degree,” she explains, “so I had two days a week at EIT and three here, applying what I had learnt at my assigned centre.”
The degree students also undertake three block practicums across the three years, and Aspen says that while she loved one working with babies, she most enjoys working with two and three-year-olds.
“They are so spunky,” she laughs. “They still need cuddles but they’re learning to be independent.”
The second oldest in her family of 11, Aspen agrees she was probably a natural for working with children. Her parents, like their children, are New Zealand-born. However, her mother’s family originally came from Rarotonga and, with the family home in Hastings furnished with pictures of island scenes and tīvaevae (tapa cloth), Aspen identifies as Cook Island Māori.
One day, she would like to visit Rarotonga but that plan is on hold as she waits to hear where her church is sending her on a mission. That could take her anywhere in the world and she says she will miss the children.
However she expects to return to the centre after the 18 months away.
Eagerly anticipating her graduation, Aspen shyly admits to feeling proud of what she’s achieved. After leaving Karamu High School, she studied at EIT on a Year 13 degree scholarship.
“It was challenging,” she says, “and a long three years, pushing me to my limits. But I loved EIT and learnt heaps and made lots of friends.”
When she needed additional support, she sought it from Maryanne Marsters, EIT’s Pacific Island mentor.
“Quite a lot of my success is due to that lady. She would sit down with me and go through what I had to do. She made it a family environment for me.”
Aspen says her parents are quietly proud of their first-born daughter and while her brothers and sisters are also happy for her, they call her a qualified babysitter.
“I am a lot more than a babysitter,” she corrects them. “I am a teacher.”