“My duty as a tauira representative is to ensure decisions made are learner-centred and in the best interests of tauira.â€? Another of her tauira rep roles is to report back to tauira. Jo is planning campus visits around the country so she can listen to tauira concerns and tell tauira what is happening in Te Mana Whakahaere. She visited Rotorua in September and will be in the lower North Island during October. The “tauira voiceâ€? of Te Wänanga o Aotearoa can be found on Jo Hymers’ Facebook page and she also posts on the Te Wänanga o Aotearoa page.
The tide turned when she enrolled in a computer course at the Universal College of Learning in Whanganui and discovered she had a natural aptitude for IT and robotics. She also became the Student Association president at UCOL in Palmerston North.
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Jo feels “lucky and privileged� to be a tauira representative and is committed to being a “voice� for all tauira.
“I achieved so much there. My confidence and selfesteem grew. I did it for myself and from there my life blossomed.� Jo works hard because she believes her children deserve a good life. “I want my babies to have a positive outlook on life and not to settle for second best.� You can contact Jo Hymers on 027 6985 909 or hymers.j@gmail.com
Jo Hymers (far right) with her täne Kyle Pohe from Ngäti Porou and their two youngest children, Ziarana-Sarae Hymers, 14, and Jet-Li Hymers, 12. Absent is Reggae Hymers (16)
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“I didn’t think I was going to be anything. I thought I was always going to be on a benefit or unemployed.�
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“My circle of whänau has expanded to incorporate not only my classmates, but everybody here on campus. I love it.â€?
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From Whanganui, her hapß is Ngä Paerangi. Jo says she’s had a tough life. Drugs and gangs were part of her neighbourhood, although her mother never allowed those influences inside their home.
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The 34-year-old mother enrolled on Te Ara Reo Mäori (Level 2) this year and says she’s found the experience “incredibly positiveâ€?.
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“I thoroughly enjoy the representation aspects of the national tauira representative role and meeting everyone, if not face-to-face, then on Facebook,� she says.
apaiÜea tauira Jo Hymers is the newly elected national student representative on Te Mana Whakahaere, the governing body of Te Wänanga o Aotearoa.
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Providing a strong tauira voice