Crossing the finish line!

"Tamaiti akona i te pā, tū ki te ao, tau ana!" Has never been more true! As it gets closer and closer to graduation and the next steps of our lives we're constantly looking back at the last few years and who has helped us to get where we are, how we got here and all the ups, downs, changes, achievements and everything in between, and we can't help but feel overwhelmed with love, warmth and just a little bit of anxiety. 

The last few years have been incredible for different reasons and none of us in year 13 have managed to find a way to express how grateful we are for everything our Kaiārahi have done for us because without them and Te Pā most of us wouldn't be in school anymore.  The last few years we've come up with dreams, goals, and plans; we've laughed, cried, mourned and performed as one; the experiences are irreplaceable. 

In the last year alone we've traveled the world, met new people from different cultures, seen places in person that we'd only ever seen on TV; we've seen universities, programmes and discussed every option for the future and been encouraged to make the adult discussions on our own, but reminded that there are people there for us no matter what. 

There aren't any gifts, words or actions that could ever be enough to thank our kaiārahi, peers and whānau for the amount of work, time and effort they've put into making sure we have options, but we hope that knowing we're taking the next step out of adolescence and into adulthood with the confidence, pride and knowledge we need to succeed and achieve our dreams will make up for some of it as we truly embrace Rākaihautu's mana and Te Pā O Rākaihautu's motto as Tū ki te ao, tau ana!