Nadine Young has been richly rewarded in achieving a Master of Applied Health Sciences (Wellness and Rehabilitation), by drawing from her own life experiences.
Nadine’s SIT journey started in 2012, when the born-and-bred Southlander moved to Invercargill with her then five-year-old son, to enrol in the New Zealand Certificate in Massage Therapy. “I had been in manual labour jobs up until then…” she says. Wanting to access work in a different profession, she realised study could provide that change. After the certificate course, Nadine continued with her studies, signing up for the Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage. Describing the experience as amazing and challenging, “…[as] a young, solo mum in my twenties, studying”, Nadine achieved her degree, graduating in 2015.
Serendipitously, the door to further study opened when Will Payne of SIT’s School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition invited Nadine to study a second degree in 2016. Achieved in a year, it was it a better fit for her interests. “It was very cool. It was another layer of learning, and it was more my jam,” said Nadine. The second degree further expanded her knowledge about the human body, “adding to my kete (of knowledge and wisdom) around anatomy (and) physiology…”
“When I started the sports and exercise degree, I realised my affinity around Māori Health. I was aware of some whānau not being well,” she says. By the time she had completed the degree, Nadine felt better equipped to enter into that space of Māori health, and careerwise, things just fell into place. “The day I graduated I got a job at Awarua Whānau Services. It was gratifying having mahi to go to the following year.” The role saw Nadine supporting individual whānau with tailored health plans. “It was very rewarding; it was about their whole health and wellbeing and coming up with a plan with them…”
At the end of 2021, Nadine enrolled in the Master of Applied Health Sciences, citing a persistent former tutor who continually encouraged her to return to study. “In my professional life, I’d quite often run into Will (Payne) and he’d say “when are you coming back? It kind of stemmed from him.”
Nadine’s research and thesis “Mana Mama: Exploring the lived realities of Hauora for young Mama Māori in Murihiku”, took four years to complete. “I’ve been chipping away at it, working full-time, studying part-time, plus a teenage boy, but it has been fulfilling,” she says.
“Through the master’s programme you have the flexibility to tailor your assignments around your interests, so I tailored all [mine] around Māori health. My work has been so supportive. I have been able to shape my work around things I’ve wanted to investigate.”
“[It] has been transformative for me. I was greatly enmeshed in the research itself,” which covered women of all ages - kaumātua (elders), through to young wāhine who’d recently had their babies. “I lived the research … I am the research; I have walked that journey; it draws on my own experience of being a young mum,” she explained.
It brought back memories of “… navigating my own hauora when I had my son. There is so much of me in [it]. It was awesome. It’s been really healing. Sometimes it’s been hard to write, because it’s been so emotional for me.”
Nadine said something she learned in immersing herself in the literature was the high value of wāhine Māori, “because we could bring new life into the world,” adding it was also fulfilling to conduct the research with Kaupapa Māori – Māori principles. “It’s really important to share Māori research through Māori methodology.”
SIT tutors were a highlight of Nadine’s programme. “Will Payne … is awesome – they definitely make the course. I met fantastic people and created some real close bonds. SIT kind of feels like home. It’s awesome. I can’t fault it.” She also took on a Māori Liaison role in the Tua Kana Teina programme to help support other students.
Challenges faced were around time management, “juggling all these balls, and maintaining all my relationships; the work – life balance”. Nadine also felt stretched by her topic of study because it was so personal. “The raw emotion for me, it was challenging but healing on the other side of it… I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
The most valuable attribute Nadine gained through studying was developing self-confidence. Recalling from her high school yearbook, “I was voted most likely to have 10 kids and be driving a van”, she now knows with assurance “That you can do it. Anyone can do it if you set yourself up right, if you’ve got the right support. My whānau were so instrumental in me achieving my degree.”
Nadine acknowledges SIT has been a catalyst for intellectual growth. “I enrolled, participated, and engaged in tertiary education”; the outcome is being more capable of critical thought – “how you read, how you think, how you feel”, influences a person’s whole life.
“I’m very grateful for my time at SIT. Every year I’ve studied, I’ve grown a little bit more – personally, professionally – you learn a lot while you’re there.”
“The Zero Fees Scheme has been amazing, considering all the study I have done. I don’t really have any student debt.”
Since 2020, Nadine has worked in Māori public health with Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust (NKMP). As a health promoter, which covers physical activity, mental health and nutrition, she says “my learnings from SIT are so applicable to where I am”.
Looking ahead, Nadine says she’s not quite ready to do a PhD yet. “Not right now … I just need to rest my brain for a few years.” However, she can see herself doing further research to take the current study to a national level – “I’m really interested in doing that.” “Education opens doors, and I’ll go through the doors when they open. I’m really excited for my future - to see where life takes me, and supporting better outcomes for Māori whānau.”