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A yearning to help children overcome anxiety has spurred Mia Hu to keep studying with us. The part-time Chinese language teacher has been a regular learner at our Royal Oak campus since December. “I found that some of my students weren’t focused in class.” The youngsters, aged five to 11, were suffering from anxiety triggered by family incidents, she says. So Mia enrolled in the NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Mental Health and Addiction Support Work) Level 4.

It all started in December when she embarked on Early Childhood Education and Community Services Level 2 at Future Skills Academy. “Learning ECE taught me how to create a comfortable, clean teaching environment for children and how to guide them to learn,” she says. After graduating she took the NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing to further improve her pupils’ welfare. “I think learning mental health can help me better understand students’ psychological states and guide them through difficulties so they can face life, and study, with happiness.”

Mia taught introductory computer studies at a university in China before coming to New Zealand in 2016 as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Auckland. The Ellerslie resident initially chose Future Skills Academy because the campus was close to home. “Later, I fell in love with the learning atmosphere of this school. We all help each other and progress together.” The teachers are more like family members who “not only focus on your study but also on your lifestyle balance,” she says. “Future Skills Academy is a welcoming and warm environment.”

Mia embraces the different cultural activities held at the academy. A highlight of campus life was being invited to teach other students about the Chinese New Year: “It was unforgettable.” She taught her peers songs and performed a dance donning a traditional Chinese dress or hanfu. “I almost fell over.”

Outside class, she loves dancing, singing, travelling, reading, swimming, and watching movies. “It’s a colourful life.”