Information for secondary students and school leavers
Jasmine Zimmerman - from university dropout to prizewinner
Jasmine Zimmerman's plans for a university degree ended sooner than she had expected. “When I left school I signed up to do a BSc and I did about a year but I only got three papers and I thought, ‘I’m not ready for this’.”
She dropped out, and in doing so set herself upon a promising career path. “I was walking through the botanic gardens to my cleaning job, and I really enjoyed it. I asked my cleaning employer if I could do their gardens, to see if I would enjoy full days working in the garden.”
- "I like working outside – in rain and sun – I actually really enjoy that."
She did, and decided to pursue this love by getting a gardening apprenticeship. But Jasmine was still finding it hard to do her written assignments, until she suddenly realised she had to knuckle down.
“You’re not automatically entitled to a job. That was what pushed me, knowing that I’d need to get a job. I pretty much had to do three years' work in two years. I locked myself in my room, and I was doing it night after night, catching up.
“That was tough. And it was summer too! But I did it, I finished it, I was so proud of myself!”
Jasmine successfully applied for a job as gardener at Wellington’s botanic gardens. A year and a half later, she was promoted to the position of collection curator of shrubs.
Her achievements didn’t end there. With her employer’s encouragement, she entered the Young Amenity Horticulturalist of the Year competition in 2008. “I had to write a speech and do a marketing presentation, practical stuff and a computer-based test. And I won! I definitely gained heaps of confidence after that award.”
Jasmine has already used the Career Services’ on-line tools to give her ideas for the future.
“I used it to type in my interests. I was interested in laboratory science and how you get into those sorts of jobs, because it would go well with my horticulture later on. Soil science, lab technician, maybe with plants and soils, that’s interesting. I’ll use it again when I’m looking for a new direction.”
