Rosie Lee - Health promoter

Rosie Lee studied health promotion to help improve the health outcomes of New Zealanders. Her new job is allowing her to do exactly that.

Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education student Rosie Lee
Rosie Lee's passion for health and fitness found a focus in her degree.

"I chose the Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education because it didn’t focus purely on exercise science or physical activity. Instead, it had a range of topics related to health, including food education and the impact of socioeconomic factors on health.

“I focused my studies on health promotion. My motivation has always been to help people. Raised by my father, I grew up with very little material wealth – we were living in poverty by economic and material measures. Because of my circumstances, I have profound empathy for disadvantaged groups, so health promotion is a perfect way for me to work alongside communities to help improve their lives in tangible and sustainable ways.

“After finishing my final year of study, I landed a job as a health promoter for the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa. The job involves training high school teachers to deliver a curriculum-based healthy lifestyle, diabetes prevention programme. We give teachers all the resources and lesson plans to effectively deliver the programme to their students, while providing ongoing support to schools to ensure that the school environment is health-promoting.

The public speaking, critical analysis and communication skills I developed throughout my degree are already helping me in my career. 

Rosie Lee Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education student

“I am excited to be applying everything that I learned in my studies to my work now. It’s great to be working for a community organisation at a ‘grass roots’ level. It’s also amazing being a part of preventative initiatives when so much of public health funding goes to treatment. I see a lot of potential to grow with the organisation in my health promotion role.

“The public speaking, critical analysis and communication skills I developed throughout my degree are already helping me in my career. Part of my role involves facilitating a workshop for high school teachers, so I’m grateful for the presentation skills and confidence I learnt in class. Plus, the ability to think critically and consider multiple stakeholders has been considerably important, given the political and complex nature of public health.

“I’d definitely recommend the programme to anyone who wants a career making a difference in other people’s lives. Take advantage of all the support services available, extremely helpful lecturers, and placements!”