My Merrin Memories

(2015, Year 0)

The first time I ever walked through the gates of Merrin school was in 2015. I was first introduced to the many teachers I would meet along the way throughout my next 8 years at Merrin Primary. I was first put into Year 0 in Room 22 which has since been knocked down after the rebuild. The first teacher I ever met was Mrs Bargh in Room 1. But my first teacher was Mrs Pierring. I enjoyed being welcomed into Merrin School for the first time, but I was a little nervous at the beginning, since it was a big change coming to Primary from Preschool.

(2016, Year 1)

In Year 1 my teacher was Mrs Abrahams. I made many new friends and I was excited for the new year to begin in a brand new classroom that I would be attending nearly everyday. Everybody was extremely nice to one another and I even got to meet some Year 7 & 8’s through doing school swimming, since we were put into buddies or pairs.

(2017, Year 2)

Mrs Germon. She was my classroom teacher in Year 2. I met a few more people such as Nina, Shire, Julia and Peyton but this year wasn’t the best year as I had ended up fracturing my ankle due to a fall on my Scooter at school. I would occasionally leave school to go to the doctors or get to school late. After 8 weeks I got my cast off and I was able to walk around and continue to play with my friends.

(2018 - 2019, Year 3/4)

This is when I first met one of my favourite teachers throughout my 8 years at Merrin. My teacher's name was Mrs Gallagher who was my teacher in both Year 3 and 4. I met Keira who sadly passed in Year 4 and Akki who left Merrin last year to go to Riccarton High, whom I will hopefully meet again next year.

(2020 - 2021, Year 5 & 6)

In Year 5 and 6 My teacher was Miss Wilson. She was a really nice teacher and was so helpful whenever I would ask for help during math time. In 2021 Miss Wilson left to go teach at a different school so, our classroom had two teachers who would switch throughout the weeks. Their names were Miss Rooney and Miss Stewart. Miss Stewart is now a teacher aide who looks after Sammy and Magnus two days of school each week. We also created our own production called Time Lord. It was a production that we did going through time throughout the years including people such as…Jackie Chan, Cleopatra, Bohemian Rhapsody, Warlocks/witches, the 1920’s and more.

(2022 - 2023, Year 7 & 8)

At the start of year 7 I was really excited because it was a new beginning for me since I was officially considered a senior. My teacher's name was Ms Landstra and I was in Room 9. When we first started in Year 7 and 8, we were in the old Wheriko before it was renovated. Once we started to renovate Wheriko we moved into the middle classrooms between Auahiroa and Wheriko before they were destroyed. Since we were halfway through coming back from a pandemic we couldn’t do our Year 7 and 8 camp so we went to Sumner Beach for a surfing lesson. In Year 8, my teacher's name was Mr Hong, and this year, the Year 7 & 8 team were able to go to our camp at Living Springs. There were seven people in my cabin. Nina, Julia, Georgia, Morgan, Myself, Mia and Lee-ann. Camp was very fun because there were many activities such as archery, tree climbing, spotlight, swimming, forest activities and many more. This year a group of us also went to the Innovation Expo in term 3. The innovation expo is something that is related to technology. They have Robotics, drone shows, E-sports, Minecraft and different stalls from different companies that have something to do with technology such as Orion, PB tech and MSI.

My Heroes

1. My parents are definitely one of my heroes. I have had many great experiences with my parents like going to Auckland for the first time or being able to go to a concert in Wellington earlier this year. If it weren’t for my parents I wouldn’t be here. Even though we may have some arguments or misunderstandings we still love each other a lot and take care of one another when we aren’t feeling well.

1. My Dad is Caring, Motivational and Supportive. If I mess something up in a sport such as Softball he will push me to reach the goals I had set for myself throughout the years I have been playing Softball. My Mum is also very supportive and motivational but if I was either down or I had hurt myself she would always be there for me when I had to talk to somebody. So I am very grateful to my parents for being with me today.

My Jams

1. I don’t know you anymore (Eric Nam)

I don’t know you anymore is by a Korean/American artist called Eric Nam. He has over 2.6 Million monthly listeners on spotify and is currently on a world tour for his House On A Hill album. This song is about being done with the people who have hurt you in the past or done something to upset you and that you are ready to finally move on with the right mindset that these people no longer exist in your world.

1. Circus (Stray Kids)

Circus was created by a K-pop boy group called Stray Kids who have over 8.2 Million monthly listeners on Spotify. The song Circus is about entering a new and exciting place that makes people feel joy or excitement such as a circus. I really like this song because I thought it had a really cool beat to it and that the lyrics matched really well with the concept of the song.

My Ultimate Future Self

In 5 years I will be 18 and I will be getting ready to graduate High School. In around 10 years I hope to have achieved my goal of becoming a famous singer with a group of people I really enjoy getting together with and lastly in 50 years I will be 63. I would have retired from my job that I had been doing for the past few years but 63 is actually really far away in life when you think about it!!

When I grow up and pursue my dreams I would also like to travel the world. If I ever do, my first destination would be to London so I can meet my best friend whom I haven't seen standing before me in nearly 6 years! If I had any other choice in what job I would want other than being a Singer, I would most likely choose a Police Officer. I have always been interested in shows such as Traffic cops or Police ten 7 and have always been inspired by the people who are out at work 24/7 saving others lives. Another job I have been interested in is a customs officer. Their jobs seem very interesting throughout the day and it just seems like a really cool job. I would like to achieve one of those 4 things one day as it is one of my goals I would like to reach in the near future.

My Favourite Quote(s)

1. The first quote I have looked up to is “If you have a dream, then you shouldn’t give up no matter what. You can’t be successful if you don’t fail” By Jackson Wang

1. My second quote is “No matter where you're from, your skin colour, your gender identity. Just speak yourself. Find your name and find your voice by speaking yourself” By RM

I really liked these two quotes because they can resemble some things in life such as what you may look like and that it doesn’t matter what nationality you are or where you come from and that you wouldn't be successful without some failure throughout the rise of your career.

Wrap Up

I am so grateful for everything I have been given from Merrin in the past 9 years that I have known this school. I have enjoyed creating new friendships through time and learning brand new things every day. Just yesterday it feels like I walked through the doors to Room 22 to start my primary school journey with some of the people who I have known my whole time at Merrin. I can’t believe that 9 weeks from now I will be walking out the gate that I have always wanted to walk through. Just like all the year 8’s I have looked up to for the past 9 years who have left one by one. I know on my last day I will be very emotional because I will have to say goodbye to everything I have done and started at Merrin. All the teachers I have met along the way to get to where I am and all the friendships that I have created that have stayed strong throughout each year. The people I have known nearly my whole life who I may never see again because we are all going to different schools. I know I will miss Mrs Gallagher a lot as she helped me in Year 3 & 4 with my spelling and my maths. I will definitely miss Merrin School and the memories I have created to get to Year 8. I am a bit nervous to start at Riccarton High, but I am ready to start a fresh journey, meet new people that have similar interests as me and people I can hang out with everyday. I would like to be remembered at Merrin as a kind, gentle and caring person.