When Lee Howard-Mizsey camped outside the new Kmart store in Whangarei with a chilly bin and foam mattress, she didn't realise the 14-hour ordeal might inspire the completion of a 1200-word essay or result in her peeing into a bottle ... and all for a $5 voucher.
She was one of three nursing students who slept in the doorway of the Okara Shopping Centre store on Wednesday night having heard rumours that the first 50 shoppers would get vouchers.
The cash-strapped NorthTec students - Ms Howard-Mizsey, Izzy Cooke and Ashleigh Ingham - grabbed blankets and settled in for the night.
Ms Howard-Mizsey, known as Bubbles, even brought her laptop and spent the night working on an essay that was due in today , which coincidentally focused on homeostasis and how the body shivers to warm up.
"We did shiver throughout the night," said Ms Howard-Mizsey, who set up outside the store at 7pm.