I was thinking the other, how amazing it is that God can just totally change our directions in just a few moments/days and the complete different path that we can lead.
I have now been in Hamilton for just over 8 weeks (apart from a couple of weeks at Totara Springs over the holidays) and my life seems to be going amazingly well. I still find it hard to believe that I have been accepted into The Faculty of Education at Waikato University (the top FOE/SOE in the country) and that i am now just over one twelfth of the way through my Primary Teaching Degree.
Taurima Christian Hostel in Hamilton East is my home for the academic year of 2010 and it is such a fantastic place to be. There are 54 (usually but now 53) residents in Taurima Hostel and we are all just seeming like one great big family - its awesome! I am starting to understand what people have told me all my life about friendship and high school friends and university friends - i am already seeing that "the friends you make during your university years, will certainly remain your lifelong friends".
My holidays or better known as a "teaching recess", were spent at Totara Springs Christian Camp in Matamata. I was nannying as well as working in the kitchen, doing random work, catching up with people, trying to get assignments done as well as helping with admin work, spending time with and continuing to be amazed by my incredible boyfriend and helping run the canteen. PHEW, what a holiday.
I continue to be surprised at how major of a part Totara Springs plays in my life after first going there during summer. Totara Springs is one of those places where all the staff, volunteers, campers and just the whole environment touches your heart and automatically becomes a part of your life. THANK YOU GOD FOR TOTARA SPRINGS CHRISTIAN CENTRE AND ALL THE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS.
After being away from the hostel for a couple of weeks and spending time at Totara Springs will all my "family" over there, coming back to the hostel seemed so exciting. I was lucky enough to be able to get a ride back to Hamilton with Jess from Taurima and the whole trip back we talked about things that we missed at the hostel - there are certainly some strange things that came up such as missing peoples loud voices and attitudes, people burping in the hallway, the laughs that some residents provide us with daily as well as all those magical "family moments". So many of us residents missed each other so much during the "teaching recess" and being back together after just two weeks literally made us jump with joy.
Everyone in the hostel seems to love my giant white teddy bear and each and every day i wake up and see it, i am reminded of how lucky i am to have Nathaniel Charles Feldon in my life. He is always there for me,makes me happy when i am sad, organises romantic picnics, shares his life with me, tells me how he is, understands me, respects me and loves me for who i am and also tells me to stop procrastinating when i need to do assignments. Nathaniel does all of this and so much more and i am so incredibly blessed and grateful that God has placed him in my life. The name Nathaniel = Gift of God..... what more can i say?
All my hard work (or more like hard procrastination) during last term and the holidays with my assignments has seemed to pay off. When i began university i had no idea how the heck to write university essays, had never heard of APA referencing, and did not know a lot about the level of work that would be expected. Looking back, my attitude of "C's get degree's" last term was not the best attitude ever but some how, all my grades so far have managed to be higher than a C - wahoo!
So far I have had:
- 2 C+ 's
- a B-
- an A+
Placement - OH MY GOSH!!!! Hillcrest Normal School is a fantastic Primary School and the children here have really become a big part of my life. Room 11, you are the best and i love you. One of my favourite parts of each and every week is Tuesday mornings - although these mean an early rise, it also means time to spend four hours in a classroom at a Primary School! Yay! Every Tuesday morning for all of Semster A and B, i am based in Room 11 at Hillcrest Normal School. Yes the joke is still continuing about how i of all people got placed in a "normal school". We have great laughs with the students and get on so well with them (most of the time), although there are a few challenges which present themselves each week.
After doing work experience at a Primary School in Hastings (at the end of year 13), i thought that I would want to teach year 1 and 2 children. Now that I am placed in a Year 5 and 6 class, i am not entirely sure of this anymore. Thank goodness i have another 2+ years before i need to actually decide which year group i would like to teach - all i know at this stage is that during my teaching block of four weeks at the end of this year, i shall try and go for a Year 7 and 8 age group.
Hawkes Bay, i miss you and i love you. I miss mum's home baking, i miss my HB friends and family, I miss everyone at The Station Community Church and i miss Sooty my Cat. Hawkes Bay, i miss you so much but I will come back at some point for a visit but just hang in there (not sure if i am talking about myself or Hawkes Bay here but ohh well) and i shall be back before you know it :)
So yes, life is great up here in Hamilton, i have met some amazing friends, I am loving uni, church is fantastic (YAY, go ARISE) and at the moment i seem to have a great relationship going with my family too - maybe i should have moved out of home sooner... haha.
2010 is certainly a life changing year and i am learning more about myself (and who i am in this world), than i have ever before.
Thank You God for all that you do in and through my life. Thank You so much for always being there and for listening to us grumble and moan and putting up with our stubborn attitudes - you
Awesome kat!
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