Reminiscence of 2013

With 2013 being very close to finished I had to think about what had happened in my life this year. It's been a busy year, with many ups and downs, things that have ended and new things have taken place. So before I begin my thoughts for what I want to achieve in 2014, I thought I'd do a bit of reminiscence of this past year. 

     In January I attended Hands-on Science at the University of Otago, it was a week full of new ideas, new people, new places and of course - science, and lots of good memories!  Over 200 students attended for the week-long camp, and wow, it sure was a blast! It also meant my Facebook friends list increased by a large amount.

     I tried Butter Chicken after visiting some family on my way back from Otago. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? I introduced my family to it, and now, it plays a large part of our dinner ideas!

     At the end of May my family and I finally moved off the dairy farm we'd been working on for the past 4 years. We now live in our own house, running our family business, - specialised in farming - which has taken off to a great start, and we're only 7 months down the track! In that time we've all met many people and my Dad and brother have been offered full time jobs countless times - to all they've politely refused. I haven't been offered any jobs yet but I have been offered other things - such as special birthday party invitations and whatnot, by particular people I worked with - those were also refused!! Unlike while we were working on just one farm , my family (Mum, Dad, brother and I) work on many different farms now ad-hock. This is really awesome because we are no longer under each others feet 24/7 and we're constantly seeing different people! Socialising while working! Fun!

     In July I joined my local Youth Group. This was a little bit daunting because there was no longer anybody I knew that attended. So I actually had to meet new people. They're a bit of a crazy bunch of kids and for the first few times I had to actually think hard about whether I wanted to join the group, or whether I should give it a miss. I continued to go there though, every Wednesday night for bible study and found the group quite likeable! I jokingly told a friend of mine that I think I earned some brownie points after bringing along a chocolate brownie one night. That, and once they finally discovered how old I was (I look young apparently) they (the youth) started including me. Almost all of them go to the same public school and are a big group of friends from there, so it is difficult sometimes to try and fit in with them, but slowly and surely I'm getting to know them better! After many months of attendance, I find them all lovely kids!

     In August I entered into the International Biology Olympiad. The first test consisted of 75 multi-choice questions on biology and logic. To be able to move on I had to pass this first test, in September I discovered that I didn't pass it. Honestly a blessing in disguise, as I no longer had time for the Olympiad studying and tests, what with trying to do my other school work and my job!  So I was grateful, and my biology teacher was fully supportive - he thought the test was pretty crazy, in what was being asked. I recently received the Certificate of Participation in the Olympiad, and discovered I was the only student who entered from my school - (The Correspondence School). This was surprising for me, as I was also the only student who entered for Hands-On Science from my school too.

     Now, it's December. School exams for this year are well and truly over and the results are due in about 2 weeks. Christmas this year was really nice and 2014 is soon to start - in 7 hours in fact! I'll give myself one more week of holidays before I get back into school early. And to think that this time last year we were celebrating life after we survived the "end of the world" the Mayan calendar predicted! The year certainly does travel fast these days.