With a “very cheeky and mischievous” three year old son as her main motivation, and wanting to make her grandma proud, Kylie Joe knew she needed some qualifications behind her to get a career.
Attracted to UCOL's friendly atmosphere, Kylie enrolled in the
Bachelor of Information & Communications Technology at the Palmerston North campus.
Despite being out of school (St Peter's College) for a number of years, Kylie found the transition from work to UCOL easy. "UCOL wasn't daunting at all and it was easy to pick up the culture," she says.
Encouraged by her "super" lecturers, Kylie found at UCOL she was able to understand the content easily, and appreciated their teaching style. "The programme was both practical and theoretical, which was really beneficial to my learning."
"Completing my industry project for Crest Hospital was very rewarding."
Studying at UCOL motivated Kylie to push limits and get out of her comfort zone. Part way through her degree, with the support of UCOL, Kylie challenged herself further by entering Miss Manawatu.
"I approached UCOL Hair and Beauty to be my sponsors and they were amazing, providing me with all my hair and beauty needs," she says.
Winning 'Best Hair' on the night topped off what was an already incredible experience for Miss UCOL Kylie Joe.
Kylie is now working at the
NZ Transport Agency in Palmerston North as part of the Web and Applications Team. Her main job is looking after applications used in the contact centre.
"I was very lucky to get the position and I hope to evolve my career there."
Discover more about UCOL Te Pūkenga ICT Programmes
The NZ Transport Agency is a Crown entity with 1372 staff members working in 14 locations around New Zealand. Its purpose is to deliver transport solutions for a thriving New Zealand on behalf of the government.