It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and finally I feel like I can process it all. It’s certainly made the time go a lot faster that’s for sure.
I’ve officially finished my second year of my Media Arts degree at Wintec, and it honestly feels amazing! One more year to go and then I’ll be in the real world, struggling to find a job and survive out there with everyone else. Hopefully next year will present me with opportunities to find a job and make a living out of the things I’ve learnt.
Two weeks ago, Te Kete Kōrero (Māori and Pasifika student publication) was shown unto the world at He Po Whakanui, which was the Māori and Pasifika student exhibition. The third year students organised this event to showcase the work they have completed not just over this year, but over the course of their entire degree, and was an opportunity to show friends and whanau just what they produce when at Wintec.
[From left: Richard Walker (Wintec Journalism tutor), Naomi Mai (third year Media Arts student), and myself.]
It was a really good evening, and I enjoyed seeing my friends with their work, I was very proud of everyone and their exhibits, and managed to start thinking about what I could exhibit next year at the same event.
Copies of Te Kete Kōrero were handed out left, right, and centre to literally anyone who crossed paths with any of the contributors (writers, designers, photographers, etc.) to show how hard everyone had worked, and how everyone pulled together to create something tangible that people all over could enjoy.
As Editor for next year, I had the opportunity to speak briefly at He Po Whakanui to discuss my involvement in Te Kete Kōrero, and to announce my new role, which starts at the beginning of next year, when we move into the planning stages of the next issue. I took this moment to not only promote the publication, but to thank everyone who had been involved not just in this latest issue, but in issues previous.
Overall, it was a great evening spent with equally great people – and I cannot wait for it to be my turn next year!
In other news, I’ve also been to a concert since you’ve heard from me last.
I went to see Conrad Sewell live in Auckland about a week and a half ago (20th of this month). He’s an Australian singer/songwriter, and was one of the supporting acts for Maroon 5 when they came to New Zealand in October.
That was the first road trip I went on. I spent the whole day in Auckland with a couple of friends. We visited the museum, and walked around the city, not looking for anything in particular. It was a mostly fun day, albeit very tiring with all of the walking around we did!
The concert itself was really good! The opening act was a New Zealand pop duo by the name of Lightning On Me. They were great at engaging with the crowd, and left us all simultaneously satisfied and eager to find out more about them.
Conrad Sewell gave a stellar performance to everyone who was in attendance! I was lucky enough to be standing right infront of the stage, so I got all of the exposure to him that I could’ve possibly wanted. I even engaged in a few cheeky jokes with him while talking to the crowd.
After the concert, he stayed around to sign merchandise people had bought that night (I bought a shirt, postcard, some stickers, and bracelets), and take selfies with his fans. I got one with him, which I will post here:
He also announced he was planning to come back to New Zealand in March of 2016. I’m definitely going to try my best to go to that concert, because he was fantastic!
I’ve also just come back from another trip to Auckland, but this time it was for a totally different reason.
One of my old friends from high school (Te Aroha) has just turned 21, so I went up to celebrate with her. It was really good to see her, as I hadn’t seen her in about a year and a half. With her moving and visiting family overseas, and me living in Hamilton, being buried deep in study, it was hard to find time to go and visit.
Fortunately, we both had time off, and I had the money to go and visit her. I’m so glad I got to see her! I’ve missed all of my friends, and we’ve known each other since we both started high school, so it was nice for us to both see each other, and reminisce on the years we’ve spent together and apart.
Te Aroha had a simple dinner at her place, surrounded by family and friends. It was my privilege to be there to celebrate with her, and I never realised how much I missed her until that night. There have so many moments I’ve wanted to share with her, but she hasn’t been around to see them (and vice versa with her). It was really cool to meet her friends that I hadn’t met before, and we all traded stories about her at different points in time with different people.
All in all, I had a really enjoyable time with her, and I can’t wait for the next visit. Hopefully it will include some of our other friends too…
Anyway blogosphere, that’s enough from me!
Until next time,
Tessa.
Tessa.
