Starting college can be a daunting experience for students filled with excitement, nervousness and not knowing what to expect. Year 9 students Cara Gray and Mia Montgomery tell us about what their experience has been like.

Cara’s story.

When I first started UHC I was really nervous because I was scared I was not going to make any new friends here but I was wrong. 

I met amazing people in my classroom and I made some friends. 

My Ako teacher Mr Broad is really cool, and has a cool personality. He also likes to do beatboxing in class. Shout out to him. 

On our first day we played basketball and had another tour around the school. After the tour I hung out with my really good friends Scarlett, Lucy, Jessica and Mia. 

So far I have had a really fun time and I'm looking forward to the rest of my time at Upper Hutt College.

Mia’s story.

Months before coming to Upper Hutt College I just knew it was the place for me. After I had left Fergusson Intermediate I was devastated thinking no other school could top what Fergusson did for me, but clearly I was wrong. 

I had wanted to start college so badly when I left because I wanted to hurry up and see what college life really is because I thought it would never meet my expectations, but as soon as I started it blew my mind how amazing it would really be.

On my first day there we got sorted into our Ako classes and it's amazing the bond you can create with your Ako class and teacher within days. 

I feel so welcomed and happy that I decided to come to this school too because there are also so many leadership opportunities and so many extra curricular activities that you can do. Take this for example. I've already joined the multicultural group, a performance group performing cultural dances, and I've signed up to do Showquest, a dance competition, and I'm doing junior volleyball, and luckily I also got into the 2nd senior volleyball team.

This school has already exceeded my expectations, from the first day where we played fun games with our Ako leaders, to now meeting new people and learning more than I thought I would ever by now. 

If there's one thing I'm looking forward to its to see what's in store for me at Upper Hutt College.