In this I answer the many ‘why’ questions in regards to why I chose to do things and end up in this position. I hope to use this in order to help anyone looking to study and live in Auckland in future.

So why? Why Auckland? Why Law, Politics and French? Why University Hall?

Why Auckland?

To be frank I was dead set on not studying in Wellington. Although convenience and practicality were big attractions, for some reason any time I thought of study it was in a new place. I felt like I needed an opportunity to be my own person, away from the influence of my upbringing and in a new territory that I could claim as my own. I have nothing against Wellington as I love going back to the city any chance I get and everyone knows you can’t beat Wellington on a good day. For myself I just needed a breath of fresh air, I had grown quite independent and felt that if I was to stay at home and study from there that I wouldn’t get a chance to expand that any further. I wanted to see how I could do things on my own. In year 11/12 I was actually looking abroad to places like Europe. Going away fascinated me but I realised soon that unless I knew exactly what I wanted to study (which I didn’t 100% know until year 13) then looking abroad and applying for scholarships wasn’t going to lead anywhere. When I turned my eyes back to New Zealand, Auckland was the obvious choice for me. I had family and friends up here prior to me moving up so would fly up quite often to see them, I got a real feel for the city and soon fell in love with it. I was the only one in my friend group who was thinking of Auckland and University of Auckland so I knew quite quickly that this was going to be a completely new start.

I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs but I actually came up for the open day last year to see what UoA was like and what it had to offer and I instantly fell in love. I toured the campus by myself getting a feel for what it would be like if I was to be here. It was strange not coming up with family as most people were with their parents when they visited but it was nice at the same time because I made sure I made the most of the trip and didn’t shy away from the day because I was alone. After moving up here this year I have to say that although it has been tough, it was the best decision ever. The life I made for myself is beyond anything I could have possibly imagined. I have amazing friends both in and out of Uni, love being close to family I usually wouldn’t have seen so often and I found a great church to be a part of. Obviously you have to put yourself out there if you want to make the most of it but to anyone who is thinking about leaving the nest but is a bit scared, you can definitely do it! It is scary for maybe the first week (if that) then BOOM you have a great community around you and the student life is a whole lot of fun.

Why Law, politics and french?

I had always had an interest in law. In year 10 we were required to do the careers quiz (can find the link here https://www.careers.govt.nz/) and it told me that I had a really strong aptitude for a lot of things. I think when I look at myself I could be considered a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. One of the top suggestions was Barrister (Lawyer), I liked the sound of it (and the potential salary) but I could never really imagine myself being a lawyer as such, I wanted to definitely learn about the law but maybe not practice it which is why it wasn’t really until year 13 that I was 100% set on it. That’s where my politics part comes in, I have a love for the United Nations and want more than anything to do work that is along the same lines as what they do. So I thought, I’d love to work in like Humans rights law but attacking issues at a global level, so the politics sprung from that. French, I always wanted to learn another language, I originally just picked it up as a General Education (GenEd) paper in semester one but fell in love with the language and just wanted to learn more and more so I continued it. Also when I look to the future I would love to live in either France or Switzerland for a few years anyway so it would be helpful to know.

Why University hall?

It might surprise you but I NEVER intended on moving into a hall of residence. When I was looking to study up here I was more thinking that I would just live with family and bus to uni everyday. It wasn’t until I came up for the open day that I had everything change. I just decided to go on tours of a few of the halls of residence because why not? When I came to uni hall though, I felt something. I felt like Uni Hall was where I was meant to be. Moving here has been beyond amazing. I love my room, I love my little neighbourhood of people who live around me, I love all my friends and the general experience that came from living in a hall. There are other obvious perks like the close proximity to Uni and being catered for (not always a blessing but at least I didn’t have to cook right?). I cannot imagine my life outside of halls. I learnt quickly that the university lecture experience is quite anti social and hard to make friends as you kind of just turn up to a lecture, sit and listen, and once it’s over you pack up and leave. Without the hall I think I wouldn’t have made many friends or even made friends from a variety of degrees, most of my floor are engineers and some of my best friends are commerce, psychology, engineering and med students. There is no way that I would’ve been so blessed with a variety of people in my life without the hall and I cannot stress enough how WORTH IT the hall life is.

Thank you so much for reading,

Hakuna Matata.