Tag Archives: learning

The Final Countdown- 50 Days

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The end is nigh! I repeat, the end is nigh! No, not Armageddon, I’m talking about the other impending event of the future- Year 12 Graduation.

To quote my best buddy, Mel, we’re approaching the end of an era. And let me tell you, it’s been quite an era to experience. Starting out as quiet little midgets in overlarge uniforms as the kindy Class of 2001, our peer-group has come a long way to where we are now; taller young women in better-fitting uniforms with a lot more attitude to form the graduating Class of 2013. Many words have been used to describe my hopes and fears for the future and, relevant as that still is, I thought to ease the strain on my work-weary brain, I’d give this post some room for reflection.

Looking around my room, I’ve acquired my fair share of schooling memorabilia. From the clothing department, a brimmed grey hat (bought in kindergarten) hangs on a hook, t-shirts from school productions past sit folded together, while swimming caps and goalkeeper gloves idle away due to a lack of Saturday sport and an increase in sit-down study. From the art department, drawings of Ned Kelly, wooden character-cameras, purple self-portraits and multi-purpose ceramic pots, add eternal pops of colour to my forever-cluttered work-space. Yearbooks, certificates, trophies and bi-annual reports have found their way onto shelves, while countless photos have been received into the hands of relatives, or mercifully kept in their photo albums.  Until my 21st birthday, that is…

 

As an avid people-person, it goes without saying that I will also keenly remember the many, many people who’ve shaped me and my skills over 13 years. I’ve made friends, lost friends, fare-welled peers and teachers, welcomed new students and learned something from every single one of them. Without some of those people, I never would have taken up soccer or debating (among other activities), or gained an interest in history, participated in amazing charity events, shown leadership skills, be fuelled in Christian connection, or even hoped to become a teacher.

Now, as I post this very belated article (for I now find myself with less than 35 days left of Year 12), I start getting sentimental. As someone who has tried to suck the marrow out of everything my school’s had to offer me, the inevitable question now comes: Do I have any regrets? I’ll admit- I do. I regret not reading more books from the library, not shouting my friends lunch more often, getting jealous at other people’s achievements, shying away from going further in conversations about religion, not studying as hard as I could have and keeping some of my more radical opinions to myself. Otherwise, I’m quite proud of all the crazy shenanigans I’ve achieved in 13 years. Where else could I win a prize for dressing up as a giant red chilli-pepper, conduct a choir of girls, work on a museum exhibition, and play men in musicals? It’s felt like forever to live it, but right now, my days of school have flown far too quickly.

Here’s to the final fifty, my friends. We’ll get through the HSC. In the meantime, however— ROCK N ROLL DUDES!!!

The Final Countdown- 100 Days

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Study. Trials. Marks. Interviews. Applications. Future. Amazing how such seemingly insignificant words can suddenly strike terror into an 18 year old student. That’s right folks, with exactly 100 days until the end of Year 12; life is now under the status update of “Decisions, decisions”. Truly, at the moment it’s all talk of ATAR aspirations, TAFE and university, plans to move out, and most importantly- what everyone’s doing for schoolies week.

So far, I’ve compared the ups and downs of Year 12 to various athletic races. And as my final 100 days draw closer, I’ve moved on to another event- the Steeplechase. Yes the steeplechase; that crazy event you only see in the Olympics where the athletes run a lot, then jump over a bar into a big puddle. So why the steeplechase? Well, not only have we Year 12 students had to jump many hurdles, maintain stamina, and give the occasional short burst of strength to survive this HSC, but we’re now being confronted with many other obstacles. In my case they fall under two main categories; time-management, and future choices.

Firstly, while time-management is nothing new to me, it’s something I’ve recently put a lot more effort into. As of late, my main struggle has been balancing study time for upcoming assessments and Trials with the temptations of wider social life. Multiple theatre productions, new movies, church events, personal performances, sport commitments, and 18th birthday parties every single weekend (including my own, hence the recent lack of posts) have finally convinced me that there aren’t enough hours in the day. Or not. Maybe I just need to keep working on a better study routine.

Secondly, it’s at this point I should confess: I am an extremely indecisive being. Study-wise, I’ve finally decided to knuckle down and persist for better marks. Life-wise though, I’m still hopeless when it comes to deciding what flavour ice-cream to buy at the shops. Speaking of ice-cream, allow me to use this cool confection as a parallel to my current predicament of university choices. Like ice-cream flavours, the possibilities for tertiary study are endless, all offering their own interesting advantages. Picture a big empty ice-cream bowl; this is my future. Now picture ten flavours of ice-cream sitting on the kitchen bench; these are my future study options. The way my crazy ambitions are looking, my ice-cream bowl’s going to end up pretty colourful. But it’s what type of ice-cream I scoop into the bowl first, that’ s got me on edge. All I can continue with is watch this space post-HSC people.

So, 100 days to go. That’s 100 days left of library books, uniform restrictions, post-it-notes, teacups in class, kitchen competitions, labelled sports equipment, practice essays, learning lines, dress-ups, party-planning, project proposals, dissing historians, assembly mayhem, Showcase performances, photos with friends and familiar faces. That’s one loaded Steeplechase event; you’ll have to wait another 50 days to find out how I cope with all that. In the meantime, I need some comfort food. Might see if there’s any ice-cream in the fridge…

Leaders in Training 2013

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Picture this: 300 teenagers, five days, one conference. Now imagine all these teenagers hanging out together; singing and studying together, with no fights, no cliques, no bitchiness, no swearing, no awkwardness, no selfishness, and no judgement. Sound hard to believe? Like the kind of perfect world where teenagers actually weren’t such weird un-relatable creatures after all? Well, I kid you not; this meeting actually happened, and let me tell you, it happened brilliantly.

From January 23-27, I was one of the many Christian teens who had the opportunity to be at Youthworks’ annual Leaders in Training Camp at the Royal National Park. Youth and their leaders came from near and far, to be challenged and feast on God’s Word together from the book of John, with talks delivered by our two speakers Mick Hyam and Mike Raiter. Basically, the aim of LIT is to build up young Christians from Yrs 9-12, who have a passion to serve Jesus and others around them; main events were held together, with most other activities divided up into Stages (1, 2 & 3), according to age/year group/experience. Our theme for 2013 was “Believe”, based on John 20:31, which was our memory verse for this year. John says:
“But these things are written so that you many believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Over the course of LIT, our days and nights were full of several engaging activities. For the brave and fit and/or downright insane of us, the infamous “Fitness of Death” exercise regime was our early wake-up call that pushed the limits of our endurance and had us using muscles we thought we’d never use (there were many aching limbs afterwards). Every day was a new challenge of long-distance running, sprints, team games and strength circuits, completed with a swim in the river before heading to brekky at our various sites. Mornings also consisted of Time With God (TWG), which was a great chance for us to individually read and reflect on the Bible and spend some quality TWG in prayer (The Psalms this year were particularly encouraging). These were followed by our Connect groups, which were a great chance to make closer friends, and focus on certain aspects of Christian leadership for the whole week. Including workshops and intensives, topics ranged from leadership characteristics, giving testimony, writing bible studies & talks, skills to teach and serve with, and investigating different types of ministry, like one-to-one and outdoor camps. Led by the adult leaders, it was a great chance for us to learn and explore all the different ways we can spread the good news to others.

January 26 hosted Australia Day celebrations with one of LIT’s infamous Team Building Activities: a special “Advance Australia Fair- Fair”, kicking off with a rousing rendition of the National Anthem. With competitions including three-legged races, shoe-tossing, Aussie trivia, cricket, 200-person tug-of-war, and our gruelling aquathon, competitiveness between Stages reached a wonderful all-time high.

Whether in the pool, on the waterslide, playing sport on the oval, or just chilling in the shade with a deck of cards, free time has always been one of the best places for having fun and getting to know other Christians. Everyone who has done LIT will tell you how exciting it is to bond with so many like-minded youth, because the joy and ease of such a massive-scale fellowship is like nothing else one can describe. The conversations that result from these new friendships are simply fun, friendly, open and deeply honest. I’m reminded of The Fellowship of the Believers in Acts, where despite persecution, the early church were still joyful in their unity of Christ. In a simplified sort of way, we at LiT were kind of doing that too.

By night time, we were all together again for the Gathering in the Rec Hall. Complete with band, tech team, speakers, and fun MCs, the atmosphere inside was always electric. I was personally more excited for these Gatherings than ever; because instead of simply enjoying the talks, this time Stage 3 got to run the whole gathering, start to finish, in every area. Rising up to the challenge certainly made me appreciate how much effort goes into planning a session at church; it takes a lot of teamwork! One of my Gathering highlights was being given the opportunity to direct and perform in a short, powerful Christian drama with some Stage 3 friends, in front of everyone (which was very successful). Memory verse time was also a highlight, with Stage 3 leading everyone in their pumped up rendition of John 20:31 to Psy’s Gangnam Style. The speakers too, were very different, but equally as challenging as we got stuck into John’s gospel and thought about true worship, leadership, and being a committed Christian, with question time a testament to everyone’s serious thoughts on the talks.

As our final Gathering drew to a close, we realised that we would once again be saying goodbye to friends we wouldn’t see for months, or an entire year. Upon reflection with my Stage 3 friends, we were all amazed by the friendships we’d formed as the result of only spending a handful of weeks together. One friend added that what made these friendships extra special and long-lasting was that Christ was at the centre of it all, and we all certainly agree that that unity is something that will last us right into eternity. The five days to three years we’d all spent together at LIT was a truly blessed event, and we continue to praise God for the freedom we have to meet and learn and grow together in Him. LIT is truly a shaping and unforgettable experience, one that we’ll always treasure.

“In the beginning, there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:1-3

Go to http://www.youthworks.net/ for more info on what Anglican Youthworks is up to in 2013!