Today was the day that Hannah and I did our talk at Mount Maunganui College. It was the place that gave us so many good memories (and a few bad ones too), the place where our friendship blossomed, and the place that taught us so much about life.
This morning came far too quickly for my liking (in my opinion), and my mind was reeling from the never-ending parade of thoughts about what exactly we wanted these students to know before we left.
We both talked about ourselves as high school students, the classes we took, and how we came to the decision of what degree we wanted to study. Not only the degree but where as well. We talked about how we manage our time, our money, and if we’ve looked for part-time jobs while studying. We also briefly touched on our plans for the future.
I don’t think any of the students really knew what Wintec was until we had finished. The lightbulb came on as soon as we explained, and it was so cool to see that in them. I think our talk gave them [the students] another option to consider when deciding whether to leave school or carry on until next year.
[Just a side note: these students are 16-17, so they legally can leave school if they wish. The legal age to leave school is 16 in New Zealand].
Mine and Hannah’s paths were very different when we were at school, so I think we did well in showing the students that there are more options than what they can see. I think we did a great job in combining our experiences, and making sure the class understood what we were saying. We even had a couple of students ask us questions (that we were more than happy to answer).
After our talk, Hannah and I visited a few teachers that we had while we were at school, just to talk to them and tell them how far we’ve come since we graduated. It was nice to see them again and to be honest, it was a little unnerving as well. Whenever I walked to a certain part of the school, a lot of memories just came flooding back. They were good ones (for the most part), and it was interesting to tell those stories again, as an older, (slightly) more educated person.
So, with that all done and dusted, I shall end this post here and enjoy the rest of my time here in Mount Maunganui. I leave on Saturday night, and Hannah will be on the same bus as me.
Blog ya later!
Tessa.
Tessa.
