Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a greenhouse holding a tray of seedlings. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: You gotta keep studying as soon as you leave school. It’s now or never.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Really? Cause my grandma started studying when she was 53. And she’s still going.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through a community garden, where they are working as a volunteer.

Narrator: She’s been a mother, a farmer, a bus driver, a lawyer, an architect. People’s interests and goals change. And their opportunities like Granny once had two pathways to employment, now we’ve got 2000. So let’s not rush it whānau. There’s more than one way to seize the day.

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a second-hand store surrounded by clothing. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: The clock’s ticking as soon as you leave school. Just sign up for anything.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Um, that's like saying dating anybody is better than dating no one.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through the second-hand store, picking up items and putting them down again as they walk.

Narrator: And then whammo, I’m married to a cat groomer and I’m allergic to cats. Nah, I’m gonna take my sweet…

On camera: The narrator picks up an enormous clock

Narrator: …time before committing cash and calendar to anything. Might do some work, save, spend some quality time with the fam, have some good chats with them and then when I know what I wanna do, I’ll be ready to do it right!

On camera: The narrator sits down, puts a hat on, breathes out a sigh of relief.

Narrator: Right!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a restaurant in front of a table with three people sitting at it. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: Any study's better than joining the workforce.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Oooph, you don’t exactly sound like employee of the month material.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through the restaurant, where they are working as a waiter. They are tidying the tables as they walk.

Narrator: I feel like employment is education too, and you gain more of it as your career progresses. Promotions are just like graduating, except your parents aren’t there. That would be weird. And lots of employers, like mine, will actually help you gain other qualifications whilst you work.

On camera: The narrator is standing by the kitchen, picking up plates of food that are ready to be delivered to a table.

Narrator: I caught the foodie buzz working here and now I study food sustainability and the whole crew’s behind me, right guys!?

Voices from the kitchen: Woo!

Narrator (in an excited voice): Yeah!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a second-hand store surrounded by kitchen equipment. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: A University degree is the only way to get a job.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice. They pick up an egg-beater and point it at the camera.

Narrator: Woah, big call! You seem so sure, not really a good start to your study of critical thinking.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through the second-hand store past other people who are looking at the goods. They pick up and put things down as they walk.

Narrator: Look, I respect your belief but I think I’ve got options. Like the world is my oyster, or kina, or pāua. I’m thinking I can go to go uni, polytech, whare wānanga, or do a trade…

On camera: The narrator stops walking and stands in the book section of the store.

Narrator: …and as long as I give a hundy to everything that I do I know my dream job will find me!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a community garden holding a pumpkin. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: Once you’ve got that degree in your hand, you’ve made it.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Well, I suspect there are a few other ways to make it.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through a community garden, where they are working as a volunteer. They wheel a wheelbarrow of compost over to a garden bed that they are preparing.

Narrator: And then the question is, make what? Make money? Make your mark on the world? Make amends? Oooh, that’s a deep one. But, it’s like, everyone should define success for themselves and then work backwards to figure out the steps to get there. I pictured my best life, I kept seeing vegetables. So here I am, volunteering, learning, and it’s feelin pretty great!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in a restaurant where they work as a waiter, holding a burger on a plate. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: There’s no point studying unless you do it at University.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Naah, us children of the revolution know that’s not true.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through the restaurant which is full of diners. They stop at every table as they walk, checking in with each table.

Narrator: We yearn to learn at every turn! There’s skills and knowledge all around us, and there will be for life. We can level up on-the-job, or at tertiary institutions, sometimes at both, sometimes at neither…

On camera: The narrator is filling a water glass for a person at the table who is working on their laptop. They notice that the narrator is not looking where they are pouring and move their laptop out of the way.

Narrator: …but always in everything!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in front of a community garden. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: There’s no point studying if you don’t have long-term vision.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera, returns to their own voice and starts pulling off their gardening gloves.

Narrator: Ah.. That's cool you got a long-term plan. I don’t really. But I don’t let that stop me from working to add valuable skills to my repertoire.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through a community garden, where they are working as a volunteer.

Narrator: There’s plenty of great learning pathways that will still keep my options open. Cause many of our future jobs haven’t even been invented yet. Like, you ever heard of a chief executive marine psychologist? Nah, me neither.

On camera: The narrator gets onto the bike that they ride around the community collecting compost for the garden. They start to ride away.

Narrator: But watch this space!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing outside the restaurant where they work as a waiter. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking away from the camera.

Narrator: I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was seven.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Well, it must be nice to know what you want to do.

On camera: The narrator is now walking and doing jobs for the restaurant like putting out the open sign and bringing in the bin as they talk.

Narrator: I’m just trying to make one good decision at a time and keep faith things will work out in the long run. Like today, I’m trying to decide between focussing hard on one subject for deep knowledge next semester, or studying a bunch of topics more broadly. It’s tough. Ain’t no recipes for happiness, I guess.

On camera: The narrator has hit a button and a garage door is slowly opening at the back of the restaurant. Before it’s fully open, they sneak under it.

Narrator: But if you find one, flicks me the link!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see the narrator standing in the toy section of a second-hand store. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrator speaks in a funny voice and is looking at a huge soft-toy caterpillar, which they are using as a puppet.

Narrator: Being unsure about your future is a sign of weakness.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrator looks at the camera, drops the caterpillar and returns to their own voice.

Narrator: Hey! Each to their own I guess but I kinda dig uncertainty.

On camera: The narrator is now walking through the second-hand store, picking up knick-knacks as they walk.

Narrator: I kind of like to just dive in and let the experience show me the way. Well, sometimes I dive. Other times I just dip a toe.

On camera: The narrator touches a false cactus and pretends to have hurt their finger.

Narrator: I mean that's what fees-free programmes and foundational courses are for.

On camera: The narrator picks up an oversized flower in one hand and a fan in the other.

Narrator: You have options! Life’s not a lawn, it’s a sprawling field of…

On camera: The narrator sniffs the flower deeply, then fans themselves dramatically.

Narrator: …ambiguous wildflowers!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.

Lively, upbeat music plays throughout.

On camera: We see three narrators speaking to the camera about their experiences. One is in a second-hand store, one is working in a restaurant and the other is volunteering at a community garden. The colours are not very vibrant. The Narrators are speaking in funny voices and looking away from the camera.

Narrator one: You got to keep studying as soon as you leave school, it's now or never!
Narrator two: Just sign up for anything!
Narrator three: …Better than joining the workforce..
Narrator one: Once you've got that degree in your hand, you've made it.
Narrator three: There's no point studying…
Narrator one: …if you don't have long term vision.
Narrator three: I've known what I wanted to do since I was seven.
Narrator two: Being unsure about your future is a sign of weakness.

On camera: The camera shakes, the colour becomes more vibrant, the narrators look at the camera and return to their own voices. The take it in turns to quickly exclaim against what they have just heard.

Narrators (in turns) Woah, big call! Oooph! Well.. Hey! Woah! Really...? Um.. Nah!

Narrator three: I'm just trying to make one good decision at a timeand keep faith that things will work out in the long run.
Narrator two: I kind of dig uncertainty. I kind of like to just dive in and let the experience show me the way.
Narrator one: Let's not rush whānau, there's more than one way to seize the day.
Narrator two: …Might do some work, save, spend some quality time with the fam,
Narrator three: …and lots of employers, like mine, will actually help you gain other qualifications whilst you work.
Narrator one: Here I am, volunteering, learning and it's feeling pretty great.
Narrator two: I've got options, like the world is my oyster or kina or pāua.
Narrator one: Everyone should define success for themselves and then work backward to figure out the steps to get there.
Narrator three: There's skills and knowledge all around us and there will be for life.
Narrator one: My grandma started studying when she was 53 and she's still going!
Narrator two: I could go to uni, polytechnic, whare wānanga or do a trade.
Narrator three: We can level up on the job or at tertiary institutions
Narrator two: and as long as I give a hundy to everything that I do, I know my dream job will find me!

Text on screen: Get pathways and peace of mind with the School Leavers’ Toolkit. school-leavers-toolkit.education.govt.nz, along with the logos for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) and the School Leavers’ Toolkit.