Yoko Hamada

After eight years in Christchurch, Yoko Hamada feels very much at home in her adopted city and has no plans to leave when she finishes her Bachelor of Nursing this year. In fact she is hoping to be accepted into a Canterbury District Health Board programme that provides mentoring to newly graduated nurses in Christchurch hospitals.

Yoko said she liked the look of Christchurch from the beginning. “I liked the fact that everything was here but the city was so compact. Also if you want to go away, in just half an hour you are in the country.”

Some of the recreational activities Yoko has sampled include sea kayaking and white-water rafting. In her time at CPIT Yoko has also studied English and a Certificate in Adventure Tourism. “All of my studies at CPIT have added to my confidence and life skills. But my career focus is now very much on nursing.”

CPIT, she said, delivers great facilities and personalised attention for students. “You can email or contact your tutor. You can ask questions,” she said. “We have the Clinical Practice Unit in nursing, so it’s a practical room, simulating a hospital setting, with the equipment we need to practice our skills.”

Following the earthquake, Yoko went to the Facebook page set up by her nursing Head of School for information, and she also received texts from her tutors. “My tutor has been keeping me in the loop and with me being from Japan, I mean I am fine, but the emotional support has been really good too.”