Nickoma Ing was born in the rural town of Gisborne, on the North Island of New Zealand. As a child, this little girl, in this little town, had big dreams for herself. She dreamed of one day being able to get an education from a prestigious university and of dancing professionally. Little did this girl know, that with some hard work and perseverance, her dreams would one day be realized in big ways.
She first gained a realization that she could, indeed, accomplish her dream from her mother, who never gave up herself and who believed in Nickoma's unlimited potential. "My mother is my biggest inspiration, she always thought me that I could do anything, so trusting her, I knew I could be whatever I wanted to be."
Although Nickoma's family did not have money to spare, love and hard work in her home were abundant. "My parents taught me how to work for what I wanted. My father taught me how to work outside of the home and my mother taught me how to work within it."
Both her father and mother labored relentlessly to support their growing family, but when Nickoma was only 16, the unthinkable happened and her father died unexpectedly. "When my dad was just 44 years old he passed away from a heart attack. This is was so hard for my family because we were trying to make a fresh start for ourselves at the time."
Now a single mother, Nickoma's mom was faced with some unthinkable decisions to make. She courageously picked up her young family and moved them from New Zealand to Australia in pursuit of a business opportunity.
"She used her entire life savings and the money she received from my Dad's life insurance policy and started a business," Nickoma explained. To make matters worse, her mother was cheated out her invested funds, leaving her with limited options.
Nickoma knew she had to do something to help her struggling family. She took the first job that came her way, a secretary at a stamp shop. This job was not a dream come true, and instead proved to be a nightmare.
"I used to walk to work two hours each way, and when I got there I hated it, but I didn't have a choice. I did everything I could to keep that job because I knew that I had to support my family.
Nickoma's boss thought she might be interested in watching a promotional video for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Watching it immediately aroused her curiosity because of her love for dancing. She was particularly taken with the featured Tahitian dancer, and thought how much she would love to do that one-day, she explained.
Wanting to both dance and go to school, Nickoma applied to BYU-Hawaii. "I really wanted to go there, it was all that I wanted. I couldn't believe that there was a place where I could go to school and dance at the same time."
She anxiously awaited the school's reply. To her disappointment, she was not admitted. Instead of being discouraged, Nickoma decided to immerse herself in her Latter-day Saint beliefs and dedicated the next several years to bettering her character.
"After I wasn't accepted, I promised Heavenly Father, any calling that He gave me, I would do it. From then on, if there was counsel from the prophets or the bishop, I would do it. I knew that the Lord's work had to be done, I couldn't expect to get anywhere without doing His work."
Nickoma worked hard and improved all areas of her life. Seven years later, she received some important counsel from her mother, using terms that her daughter would easily understand
"She told me that I had grown all I could in Australia and that it was time for me to move on. She used the analogy of a potted plant, she said that my roots had grown as much as they could in the pot, and that it was time to plant myself in the ground where I could grow without limits. She wanted me to reapply to BYU-Hawaii."
Nickoma followed her mother's advice and reapplied. She was nervous about her chances of being accepted since she had been turned away seven years earlier.
To Nickoma's surprise, she was admitted. She and her family began to make plans for her trip over the ocean. However, she quickly discovered that the price of the airline ticket was far more than she could afford. Her mother knew how important attending BYU-Hawaii was to her daughter and took action.
"Mum and her best friend began to get the word out that I needed to get to Hawaii for school, but that I didn't have the money. What happened afterwards was miraculous. People from three different stakes, people that I didn't even know and people who had no money to spare were donating what they had so that I could fly here."
With gratitude in her heart, she arrived in Hawaii on faith, not knowing how she was going to pay for food, rent and school, putting her well being in the Lord's hands. Thankfully, an already established program came to her rescue.
"When I got here I didn't know that as an IWES student I didn't have to pay for anything. I was so grateful to learn that I didn't have to worry about what I was going to eat, or if the power would be shut off, I was amazed and so thankful, this was such a blessing to me," she said.
One of her favorite parts of Laie is the blessings she receives from being near a temple. "I never dreamed I would be so close to a temple. Back at home, we had to travel so far to get to the temple, now I can just walk!"
In just a short while, Nicoma became well acquainted with two aspects of the Laie "triad." Her intense love for cultural dancing quickly took her to the third, the Polynesian Cultural Center.
She had danced with a Polynesian show before arriving in Hawaii and thought that experience would be enough to land a spot performing at the Polynesian Cultural Center's Night Show.
Being hired was not as easy as she had anticipated. After two auditions, she was turned away. Frustrated, she was about to give up on her dancing dream. Talking with trusted friends, though, she decided to try one more time.
Her perseverance paid off, and after the third audition she was welcomed to the coveted position as a night show performer. "I was so happy and so excited to be there! I remember my first time on stage, I thought to myself, this is it, my dream's come true."
As the newest dancer on the stage, Nickoma knew that she had to work just as hard to make friends. "I told myself that I would just make friends with all of the new people that got hired and I'd work hard to be the best dancer that I could be. Maybe by doing that, my boss would notice me and ask me to be the lead in the Tahitian portion of the show."
Nickoma fully embraced her role as a PCC performer. Then one day, just as she had seen so many times before, the unexpected happened. She got a call to be the center performer for the Tahitian segment of the night show.
"Talk about saving the best for last! I cannot believe how everything has happened. I never expected all of these dreams to come true. This is what I had wanted to do ever since I saw that Polynesian Cultural Center Promotional video so many years before."
In the midst of all of her demanding activities, she met a very special person, the man she would shortly marry, Anthony Ing, who was also a student at BYU-Hawaii.
"We met for the first time in our acting class, it was funny because we were improvising a scene where he was supposed to be proposing to me. He got on one knee and asked me to marry him. This was definitely a foreshadow of what was coming."
Her partner, Anthony, felt the same way. "I swore I had seen her somewhere before. She must have been the girl I had dreamt of my whole life," he said.
Few are more proud of Nickoma's vast accomplishments than her mother. She credits Nickoma's successes on her daughter's great character. "She just has this immense Christ-like love for everyone, no one exempt! Of course, she has her days of struggles but she overcomes her trials by loosing herself in service to others. She has found the remedy to solve her problems, loose yourself in service to others and you will find yourself."
Nickoma continues to dream. Her next goal is go home to Australia to help support the family that steered her through her hardest times. This ultimate dream will require a quality education, available at BYU-Hawaii.
"I am majoring in exercise and sports science with minors in Theater and Hospitality and Tourism Management and I am going to definitely be putting my education to work as soon as I can."
Nickoma plans on becoming a physical therapist and opening a day spa. Her husband is eager to work right along side her. "When I found out that that was her dream, I was really excited. I am an International Business major so I told her, perfect, I can come up with a plan and build that for you!"
Nickoma Ing proves that it does not matter what kind circumstances a person is born into, the power to make dreams come true lies solely in the hands of the individual. With the knowledge Nickoma has gained from her many examples and life-experiences, she will undoubtedly continue to persevere and to achieve her dreams.