Education Profile: Riki Baker

Kia ora whānau! My name is Riki and I am current studying a Diploma in Applied Science’s Pre-Chiropractic pathway at Auckland University of Technology with the goal of becoming a chiropractor.

I was raised in the small but lovely town of Blenheim constantly surrounded by friends and whānau and often found myself at Omaka Marae, whether it be for wānanga, special occasions or simply just to hang out with my cousins. Throughout my youth, sport was a passion of mine and thankfully I’ve had the opportunity to represent my province in multiple sports. 

As many of you know, injuries accompany sport like bread and butter and through my experience of injuries I found a passion for chiropractic. One program that really ignited my ambitions to follow my dreams and become a health practitioner was the Mana Rangatahi wānanga. I have had the privilege to be a part of this phenomenal program for four years and have experienced and seen first-hand the impact this has had on not only myself but many rangatahi throughout the iwi. The program taught me be to be respectful, considerate, intuitive, humble but most importantly to be true to myself and to be proud to be from Ngati Apa Ki Te Rā Tā and to be Māori.

A life goal of mine is to become the best Māori chiropractor in the country and also to become a role model for rangatahi who want to pursue a career in health sciences and tertiary education. I am so grateful to have the support of Ngati Apa ki te Rā Tō and cannot wait to show New Zealand and the world what Ngāti Apa can produce!

Nga mihi nui

Riki Baker