Times passing.

In the weekend just been, was the 19th Future Problem Solving National Finals.
It's been a quietly influential part of my time at High School. The annual missing of period 6 and 7, helping set up the camp, sitting our booklets with mountains of food, practicing the Dramatic presentations... Sitting anxiously for the results.

I can still remember the day I went to the meeting in S4, all that time ago. Stumbling in by myself a few minutes late, not realising that it was a team thing. Vaguely knew the people who would come to be my team, and hardly knowing what we were in for.

That year, miraculously, we made it to nationals. Thought we were awesome. Awkward. Didn't even place. We were guttered to say the least. Dramatic Presentation was a horror.

2007

nawww

Fast forward to 2008, we made it to nationals again! In the senior division, because the rest of my team are oldies. This time, we managed to place 2nd! Maybe you can see a recurrent theme in the photos - every time we went, (apart from when we evaluated) we went to the same secret garden near the mall. :)

In May/June the next year, we went to America! Did an epic tour of LA, Chicago, Michigan, Niagara Falls, New York. Pretty much an amazing experience. 

The Bean, Chicago

MSU

Didn't qualify for FPS Nationals in 2009, but Sarah, Jaz & I went as evaluators :D different experience, but it was still good coz the other team went to compete :)

Quickly came 2010 -  our year. We were the pros now. Managed to place first in the booklet, and SECOND IN THE DP. and we even enjoyed it! How far we have come since 2007...

So that's my journey with my team (highly condensed)
This year there was a new journey, this time with a new bunch of people, where I had the role of co-coach. It's almost like some bad soap opera in which all the main characters die off, and new characters replace them (but good in this case)
It was so different this year. I kept thinking back to our old days, when we explored the camp for the first time, when we thought we would win, but didn't. This people were going through it for the FIRST TIME. Everything was so familiar, the food was exactly the same.

I got acknowledged for my service to FPS over the last 5 years at prizegiving, and a lady who I didn't recognize (a coach) came up to me and said that she remembered me, when I was *this high* It's ridiculous. Crazy. I cannot believe that this chapter only has one A5 left.

Next year will be one of new beginnings. Hopefully I'll get to join something which will stay with me for my University studies, like how FPS did for high school.

My Day Out.

Performed at this Postgraduate Research Expo thing for Alex at UoA, along with some AYO'ers. The rehearsal was at 10am, and the concert at 5:30pm. This meant that I had an entire day to fill in the city.

I decided to go check out the revamped Auckland Art Gallery! How many years has this building been under wraps?! So long so that it seems like it's jumped out of nowhere. It looks almost too good to be in New Zealand. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but it was pretty great! I found it interesting how there were so many different types of works all jumbled together... They seemed to sort it by who donated it? That's how it looked to me, anyway. There was a massive range of art movements there. Saw one Dali work, and reminded me of Berlin :/ wish there were more! Bumped into Julia there and had a good old chat. 

The Art Gallery is definitely worth checking out, and it's FREE! How cool is that :)

Next up on my agenda, I headed down the Queen's Wharf. To be honest the cloud was a little bit of a disappointment... Way too touristy, and not really New Zealand-esque. Zoomed through this, and walked (very far) to Wynyard Quarter. This was a bit nicer, and had a great view of the harbour bridge! It's nice to see Auckland dressed up a little bit :)

View of Harbour bridge

View from Wynyard Quarter (I think)

Feeling hungry, I went back at got $5 kebabs at Kebabs on Queen, as recommended by Helen :) They were pretty good! :)

Bumped into Vanessa & Frances walking down Queen Street, and together we went and checked out Real Groovy. Can't believe I haven't been there before, it's pretty awesome :) Although everything is really expensive, they do have some quirky things there :P

So yeah, that was my exciting day by myself :) pretty awesome, I must say. I enjoy these days quite a bit tehe.

In other news, my sweater from One Nine Eight arrived! Wore it on tour last weekend. Loving it :)

Legacy.

Every year, during spring, we have the most intense flowers in our front garden. Freischas, they're called. They bloom early in spring, and are indicative of the new season. You'd be surprised when you saw them, and even more surprised that we don't plant them every year. They just pop up, by themselves.

Legacy. Such a coveted thing. We wish for people to remember us once we cease to walk the corridors we walk, do the things that make people notice us. We all fear being forgotten and ignored. In less that a month, we'll finish our high school life. What do you leave behind? Will you leave a legacy, or will you simply vanish, like the freischas, which in a few weeks, will decompose, and disappear into the soil.