Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Science (Wellness & Rehabilitation)
Philippines born-and-raised Celine Porsha Villarin, who came to New Zealand to pursue further studies at SIT, loves that living in Invercargill means no traffic jams.
Celine began her career as a Physiotherapist in the Philippines after graduating in 2018. Working in hospitals until 2024, she decided to do something new. “I wanted to study and live abroad, as well as upskill,” she says.
Having found SIT through a website search, Celine’s priorities were to live in a peaceful city, as she departed home and the security of family. “Safety was a really big thing for me.” And SIT has been the right fit for her.
“My first impressions of Invercargill: it was just as described, very peaceful and no traffic jams.” Unsurprisingly, the weather was the biggest adjustment initially, with Celine arriving in mid-winter. “I cannot describe how cold it was!” she says. And driving was different too; however, the lack of traffic jams was a plus.
Southlanders also made good impressions with Celine. “People are quite nice, they say ‘hi’ when you walk past; the community is friendly (and) they have a good work-life balance. New Zealand surpassed my expectations.”
Celine explains SIT’s postgraduate programme was an upskilling path for her. In the course she dealt with clients who had Musculoskeletal, neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. “We would provide exercises to help them improve.”
In the practice environment, Celine found people are respectful and stick to their appointment times. “It’s well adhered to,” adding it was of high value to connect with and talk directly to clients. “It helped me to communicate more easily,” because, even though she is fluent in English – it’s learned at a young age in the Philippines – Celine admitted “The Southland accent is different and there is a different sense of humour.”
Alongside the clinical component, Celine also learnt about wellness in New Zealand, which she described as useful, as all countries and cultures are different. “It was helpful to do focused study on this - the Māori culture and sensitivity to all cultures.”
Describing SIT’s course as quite international, Celine adds, “SIT has taught me how to be with people of different cultures, and how to respect them, even if they have different beliefs. And you have the advantage of being able to apply it.”
“Living in New Zealand has helped me become more patient,” Celine acknowledged. “I’ve enjoyed every minute here.”
The course reminded Celine of the rewards of being teachable. “It’s a good thing to always be open to learning new things…” an example was the Sports Science Tutors who taught her: “They had different backgrounds, and I learned from them. Being teachable has given me so many opportunities here.”
Celine found the most enjoyable aspect of the course was the good balance of study and leisure. “SIT prioritises balance in terms of studying. It’s good not to have too much pressure; it’s easier to learn.”
A memorable highlight for Celine was helping a client who really enjoyed exercising. “Because of the course she was able to find a community who gives her motivation to keep going with her exercise.”
Another stand-out experience was being offered an internship with a physiotherapy clinic, which opened the door to help look after a local rugby team over their rugby season, something completely new for Celine. “It exposed me to sports physio”, and coming from a hospital physio background, it introduced her to new skills in handling sports clients.
“The Physio I was working with taught me many good things, and the internship has taught me a lot in different ways.”
Firstly, from a clinical standpoint, there were new techniques of treating and assessing sports clients. Secondly, communicating with the team was a great learning experience, with players from other countries having a variety of accents, “as well as the Southland accent, which was difficult to understand initially”. Celine also believes the role helped her acclimatise to Southland weather. “Rugby being a Winter Sport and being outdoors for hours in different weather conditions has made my winter tolerance better.”
Celine credits SIT Tutor, Joanne, for helping her to establish connections easily with clients, “given that I came from a different country with a different cultural background”. The exposure to clients has helped her assess and treat patients in the “New Zealand way”.
The big challenges Celine’s faced here have been from living overseas. “I missed my family and my dog. It’s the first time I’ve lived away from my family. In the Philippines it’s usual to stay with your parents even past 18,” she explained. Having to do everything independently has been a learning curve, but the culture shock has been overcome with people “just being nice to me”.
The opportunity to stay and settle in Invercargill has arisen through job offers; Celine is now working as a Physiotherapist with local physiotherapy clinic, Treat Me Physio, in Leet Street. “Being a holistic clinic, it is important to be culturally aware, and this is where SIT has taught me well.”
Showing initiative and taking on new challenges has led to Celine’s success and gaining a place in the local physiotherapy sector. “SIT has given me a good start with opportunities in the workplace.”
Celine is planning more study (a master’s) to further upskill, but after she’s worked for a while to find more direction. “When I’m ready to commit myself… I don’t know yet what path I want to take.”