My study journey didn’t start off as expected. At 18 years old I fell pregnant with my son. I had just finished a year of studying Architecture and I was living the typical student lifestyle. I had left home, was renting, working, and partying all while studying full time.
I remember the day I found out I was pregnant like it was yesterday. I can tell you every detail of that day. It’s the day my life changed forever.
The day my son was born was the day I became a solo mum. My sons birth father saw him in the hospital and the next day never returned.
So now I had the young solo mum stereotype put upon me. Everyone thought my life was over, but it had truely just began.
I had been looking at getting back into study during my pregnancy when I found that Open Polytechnic offered part-time and online based study that I could do from home. It was only when my son was 6 months old that I took the plunge and enrolled in the Diploma of Construction.
In the last 4 years, I have worked as an Assistant Geotechnical Engineer, a QS admin at the Auckland International Airport for Fletchers, and today I am a Quantity Surveyor for Construct Interiors.