Noelene Set To Empower Tauranga Youth

She’s young, passionate and focused on improving youth outcomes. Meet Toi Ohomai student Noelene Tewhakaara, selected by Tauranga MP, Jan Tinetti as her Youth MP for 2019. 

Noelene is currently studying a New Zealand Certificate in Foundation Skills (Level 2) at the Toi Ohomai Windermere Campus in Tauranga. She says she initially enrolled for the course as she felt like she was provided with a very narrow focus at secondary level and wanted to explore all the career options and opportunities available before starting her career journey. 

“I always wanted to work with people, and specifically youth. I want to do whatever I can to drive change and empower youth to challenge themselves to reach their full potential,” says Noelene.  

“That is what I was most attracted to with the Youth MP programme – the youth aspect. I’ve always wanted to help out youth and the people in my community.”

Noelene’s interests include law, mental health, addiction, social justice and youth work. The course has laid the foundation for Noelene to pursue further study, which she intends to do next year. 

“I feel like the topics we covered in the course were really relevant and helpful to help me discover my true passion and build the basic skills I needed. As well as being able to make a lot of new friends, I found the tutors have been so supportive and went the extra mile. It was with their help that I applied for to be a Youth MP,” says Noelene. 

“My dream since I was younger was always to become a lawyer, but since I’ve started attending Toi Ohomai it’s opened up more doors and opportunities. I hope to make use of those opportunities as Youth MP and as I further my studies.”