Jasmine's Story - HIPPY gave me opportunities

Jasmine As a solo mother of one at 18, I thought the only potential I had was earning a very low job in my near future and the worst thing was I felt OK about this. My education went downhill when I was in high school as a rebellious teenager leaving school at 16 and living pretty much on the edge.

Thankfully, I was introduced to the HIPPY programme and in 2015 I was given a golden opportunity to complete Level 4 Adult Education as a HIPPY Tutor. I could never believe that I was actually studying, something I had never done before!

Once I received my certificate I couldn’t believe how far I had come. Working towards this certificate has made me a lot more confident in myself and has brought out a lot of potential that I never knew I had!

Today I am a Site Coordinator/Administrator at South Auckland Clinical Campus, part of the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. I use my skills I have gained through the HIPPY Programme and through my achievement of my Level 4 Adult Education Certificate to help the medical students through their journey of becoming doctors. I love what I do, it is a challenge and there is always something new around every corner, but every day I am continuing to learn something new. The learning never stops.

I am now a mother of two and in a strong relationship. My son’s doing really well at school. He’s learning quite far ahead of the other students in his class. HIPPY has helped him at school: all the interaction, bringing the learning into the house. He likes to learn, problem solve. He started a little early, before his birthday. He’d gained a lot of skills and the school was prepared to take him on early. It was really easy to settle him in; he loved it.

My daughter’s just really talkative. She’s got a good imagination.

HIPPY has meant a lot to me; it’s opened lots of doors. It’s made me grow personally, gaining skills, having an open mind about myself. It was really awesome, meeting new people, having the opportunity and knowing the opportunity could be given to other families as well.

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