This Time Last Year...

This time last year, I graduated from Year 12. It's insane that it has been a year. An entire year since our farewell assembly, followed by our grade spending the rest of the day in the park by the river and the euphoria and excitement of having finally finished, followed by graduation night where the tears flowed - rather, gushed like a torrential downpour - at the thought of leaving the people we had spent thirteen years of our lives with.

All that was a year ago. Now we're all at uni (or theatre school!) or TAFE or working, and the HSC is a distant memory. But today, as Facebook is flooded with this year's Yr 12's graduation statuses, all those feelings of a year ago are flooding back. Don't get me wrong, there's no way I would ever wish us back to the HSC, but I do miss it. I miss my school, my teachers and my grade. I miss seeing everyone every day and sharing life together. I miss the community. I've been so blessed with my group of friends, and we frequently catch up and make sure we see each other, like I always knew we would. We're too close to just stop seeing each other. But it's the people who are not in my tight knit group of friends who I don't see. I knew it would happen, but it is still weird that I haven't seen so many people in a year that I normally would have seen every day.

It is very weird not feeling like you own the school. I have visited the school to see teachers and students a couple of times over the past year, and it is the oddest feeling going from being the oldest grade in the school and knowing everything about it and feeling like you run the place, to being an outsider. You realise that the school grows and moves on without you. There are new buildings, new teachers and new students.

I must admit, though, I have always been welcomed warmly when I've visited the school. My teachers love to hear what I've been doing and how I'm going and - probably because I want to be an actor - a lot of the students and friends from lower years are really keen to catch up and there's a kind of novelty to being there. I visited just last week to talk to the Yr 12 Drama class about studying drama outside of school, and I walked into our school's cafe to be greeted by a girl screaming "You were on Puberty Blues, weren't you?! You're awesome!!" It was a very odd occurrence, one that I'll admit I liked, but it was made even more amusing by the fact that I've only done extras work so far. I can't wait to visit after I've actually played a role!

So over the past year, we've all grown up a lot, at least I know I have, we've moved on to different and exciting things, and we've forgotten there was ever a thing as horrid as the HSC. I guess what I'm worried about the most is moving further and further away from everyone. Especially for me pursuing acting - I have no idea where that could take me, but I know that I won't be staying in the same place surrounded by the people I've grown up with. And that's exciting, but terrifying. And we adapt. I hardly realise it's happening while it is, especially because I'm so passionate and excited about acting and determined to achieve a career in it, I have little time to think about anything else. It's just days like these that make me stop and think and realise that things aren't going to stay the same forever. And that has pros and cons. I just thank God for my friends because I know that no matter how far away we are, we'll never completely lose touch. And that's something that I think is rare - I know a lot of people who have completely lost touch with their school friends.

Well, hasn't today made me melancholy?! I'm going to the graduation tonight to support my friends in Yr 12, which will no doubt be the culmination of my reminiscing, and then I'll be back to the excitement that is theatre school and seeing where God  takes me over the next twelve months!

Spring...

My default answer to 'what is your favourite season?' is Winter. But that is a lie. Well, it's not a lie, it's just that the question is normally only asking 'what is your favourite season, Summer or Winter?', in which case my answer is, truthfully, Winter. This often shocks people, but as cold as Winter gets and as unbearable as an early morning start during Winter is, I find it infinitely preferable to the revolting humidity and stifling heat of Summer. You can always put another jumper on, or rug up next to a heater (or a fire, if you're lucky enough to have one) in front of a good movie or with a good book, but there's only so many layers you can take off in Summer before you're arrested. Not to mention the fact that I'm as white as they come and would burn under a skylight given half a chance.

I digress.

My real favourite season is Spring. Or Autumn. I can't really decide...they're pretty equal in their awesomeness. Yes, the in-between seasons. The best of both worlds. It's really comfortable up here on the fence - care to join?

Well, it is currently Spring, and I'm loving it. It's so great because you can sit in the sun, on a picnic, and not die of the heat, rather, you can enjoy the warmth. There is little I love more than walking through a park, in the warmth of Spring sun, with a breeze blowing, surrounded by friends. Picnics are the best, and Spring means lots of them!! Just last week my church had a big picnic/walk-a-thon to raise money for Operation Christmas Child (a Samaritan's Purse initiative where you pack a shoe box with toys and essentials that are given to children living in poverty all over the world. If you've never heard of it, you should definitely check it out here) and it was such a lovely day. Friends, brilliant weather, food and bringing glory God. Perfect day.

I was sitting in my back yard eating lunch today, after a morning of learning lines for As You Like It, with the perfect combination of sun and wind that for some reason just makes me really happy, and I realised how beautiful my garden had become. Another upside to Spring.

Storms are another thing I love about Spring. That may also sound really odd, but I love storms...just as long as our house doesn't leak, which it has been known to do a bit more frequently than would be preferred. I love the feeling of walking outside and almost being blown over by huge winds - it's probably my dramatic self (which, let's face it, is all of me) reveling in the power of an unseen force.

The one thing that frustrates me about Spring, I'll admit, is the fact that I never know how to dress. It could be really warm in the sun, but then freezing as soon as you step into the shade, or brilliantly sunny but actually cold, or start really warm but turn stormy and cold, or any combination of the above. Yesterday, my sister and I were attending an event and she left the house in a summer dress and I left rugged up in jeans and jacket. We turned to each other and laughed, trying to convince the other that our choice of attire was more appropriate. Yes, it is the one mystery of Spring I will never be able to solve.

And there we go - an entire post about a season. I trust you skimmed through most of that, or more likely just ignored the whole thing all together once you realised that the title wasn't some cleverly cryptic and creative entry point to a much deeper topic. Well, if you did persevere to the end, do tell me - what is your favourite season? And why?

Of Sculptures and the Ocean...

     On Sunday I went on first family outing in what feels like forever - one of the many perks of having finished the HSC!! We went to Bondi for Sculpture by the Sea - an annual display of a HUGE variety of sculptures that line the landscape of a coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama beaches. It's incredible the array of scultpures they have and how cleverly they inhabit the landscape! However, what's even more incredible is the sheer mass of humanity that manages to flock to Bondi!! It took us 2 and a half hours to get to there (granted, there was also track work on the day we went...) but it was definitely worth it! It was such a good day, made even better by the fact that I was able to spend a day with my family, out of the house, with no guilt or worry whatsoever that I should have been doing something else!

     I'm even going back there in a couple of weeks with some friends from school. I'll write more about it and my favourite sculptures after I go with them, as I'll have more time to see everything and take it all in (I didn't end up being able to spend a lot of time there with my family because we had to get back for Youth). I'm really excited to go with my friends - it'll be such a fun day!! Until I write about this year's Sculpture by the Sea, you can see some photos of some of my favourite sculptures from previous years and you'll know what I'm talking about :D