Twenty-year-old Nathanael Elliott (Tuhoe, Ngāti Awa) had his heart set on joining the police, but a change in plans saw him enrol in the Bachelor of Social Work at EIT | Te Pūkenga in Tairāwhiti.

Nate says: “I learned so much about myself and what the role of a social worker actually is. I learned the mental preparation for it and the mental focus that you have to have whilst working as a social worker.”

“It was only my first year, but I feel like there is so much value in regard to the knowledge that you get,for me, it was no-brainer. I had to go for it and see it through.

After finishing up at Campion College, Nate began studying the NZ Certificate in Study and Career Preparation (Services Pathway) [Level 3] at EIT | Te Pūkenga in preparation for joining the police.

“I really enjoyed  the programme, but my ambition to join the police was conflicting with some of my other goals.”

Nate, a keen gym goer, has set himself a goal of increasing his weight and building muscle, but the aerobic exercise required to train for the police was seeing him lose weight.

“Every day I would go for a run and the weight would fall off me.”

With the police no longer an option, Nate found himself drawn to social work.

“I looked into social work because I had a keen interest in talking with people and giving advice where I could. I’ve always tried to look out for my friends, and  been a really empathetic person, so social work really sparked my interest.”

“I began pursuing my Bachelor of Social Work and over my first year, I realized how much I misconstrued it. My expectations were that social work was a degree that you get to join Oranga Tamariki or something like that, but I have realised that there are a lot of different avenues and opportunities.”

One of those avenues that is of most interest to Nate is working with youth.

“I am interested in working with that age group and primarily teenagers with behavioural issues, because I feel like I can relate a lot. I’m not that old. I’m only 20 years old so I can still relate to our youth at the moment. I feel like I’ve still got a young spirit as well.”

“ I want to make a change or help to make a change in the mindsets of our Rangatahi. I love the idea of being able to make a difference in someone else’s life, whether it’s on a large scale or a minor scale, it’s still a positive impact. That’s what I feel my community needs.”

Nate says he enjoyed his first year of his four year degree at EIT | Te Pūkenga and says the students were a tight group, who also had good relationships with the lecturers.

“I found the tutors very supportive as well. I had a lot of things going on last year in terms of my personal life and when the programme conflicted, when the work got a bit too much, you could be really open with your tutors.”

He is looking forward to the start of the second year and during the holidays has been working hard at his part-time job at KFC to make money to pay for his studies.

EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti Bachelor of Social Work Lecturer Mere Waihi says: “Here in Tairāwhiti we are passionate about supporting our tauira to achieve their goals and welcome questions from anyone who is thinking about pursuing a career in Social Work.”