Alex Schofield (left) and Ella Fotu are among 26 Fire and Emergency graduates who celebrated their qualifications on Thursday. Photo / Maryana Garcia
In 2020, Ella Fotu was a Tall Fern planning to play professional basketball overseas.
Covid-19 led her to change teams, just not in the way she thought.
Fotu graduated alongside members of her new team, a troop of 26 new firefighters, at Fire and Emergency's National Training Centre in Rotorua on Thursday.
"The best part of this course has definitely been the people," Fotu told the Rotorua Daily Post.
Then a friend of Fotu's father, also a firefighter, gave the sportswoman another nudge.
"I had to do something about it. It was like the universe was speaking to me."
Now, after 12 weeks of tough early-morning rises, juggling an intense training and assessment timetable with finishing her environmental science course by correspondence, Fotu says the journey has definitely been worth the work.
"[Being a firefighter] is a job of all trades. I feel like I've become a builder, a sparky and a mechanic too.
"It's a physical job, involving teamwork, helping others and being a positive role model, especially for Pacific girls.
"The course has been tough, but I've enjoyed it. Being a firefighter ticked a lot of boxes for me."
The fire service has also ticked a lot of boxes for Fire and Emergency graduate Alex Schofield.
Schofield first considered becoming a firefighter about 10 years ago but an opportunity came up to move overseas. When he returned to New Zealand after nine years, the desire hadn't gone away.
🔥🎓 A Tall Fern, landscaper, tour guide, and aircraft engineer were among the 26 new career firefighters who graduated...
Schofield's proud family were present to celebrate his graduation on Wednesday.
During the ceremony, the 26 graduating recruits performed simulations to showcase their new skills. This included cutting someone free of a motor vehicle accident and extinguishing a high-rise building fire.
New recruits were each assigned to one of 66 career fire stations around New Zealand.
The 26 firefighter graduates will be deployed to the following areas: