Narissa Bayler
Graduate: Up Front Teaching, Whanganui Polytechnic; Bachelor of Computing Systems, Waiariki Institute of Technology
Now: Lecturer of multimedia and web development, Waiariki Institute ofTechnology, Rotorua
When asked if 10 years ago she saw herself teaching multimedia courses, Narissa Bayler laughs. “I would have told you I was interested in teaching but I never thought it would be in computing.”
Narissa’s varied employment background is the classic example of today’s trend to career hop‘til you drop—into yet another fulfilling position, that is. Narissa quite unexpectedly dropped into a tutoring position at Waiariki, after previously going from an occupational therapy instructor to activities officer and then diversional therapist before starting a family.
When her youngest child started kindergarten, the stay-at-home mother of two decided it was time to challenge herself in another way. “My brain was going soft,” she said, “I just wanted to learn more things and was interested in
computers. I had taught myself a little web design [Front Page Express] so I was interested in learning more about that.”
Narissa looked to Waiariki to further her computer skills and knowledge but she never really planned to go for a bachelor’s degree.“I originally went in to look for something that fit around my son’s kindergarten time. The timetables at Waiariki were very accommodating, it was great.”
After completing a couple computing certificates one of Narissa’s tutors, Linda Fraser, encouraged her to take more. It wasn’t long until Narissa earned a diploma and her path didn’t end there. In addition to starting her own web design business, she continued at Waiariki.“I was still interested in learning more about multimedia and web design,” she said, “and then started to think of that as a career, so I continued on to earn the Bachelor of Computing
Systems.”
So, how did she go from Waiariki student to Waiariki staff?“Waiariki seemed like such a cool place and I wanted to work there,” she said. “I was really impressed by the tutors there, I really was.” Having studied at three other institutes before Waiariki, Narissa took notice of at least one important difference that set Waiariki apart from the others. “I was most impressed with the tutors here. Most have industry knowledge—I like the fact that people teach the industry they have actually worked.”
