Dirty, crime-ridden and unsafe; West Auckland has never had
the best of reputations. I often find it is the butt of jokes and racial
comments. When I was 14 years old and my parents and I were looking for a good
high school to attend, we looked as far out of West Auckland as we could. We
remained open minded, however, and attended many open evenings around the
suburb, hoping to come across something that would fit. We were pleasantly
surprised when we attended Waitakere College open evening. We were greeted by
energised students with big smiles, we were informed by the principal about the
values of the school and finally, a leader of the school lead us around the
campus, showing us just what the school was capable of. To say that we were a
little surprised, is an understatement. Waitakere College was last on the list,
given its reputation for drugs, fighting, low pass rates and again, the humour
that surrounded it, but there was something special about it.
We took a chance
and I began my journey. Never have I ever felt so welcomed. The school is its
own functioning and loving community. Waitakere is very diverse and we are not
only taught to respect, but we are also taught to learn about each other’s
cultures. Watching my friends perform the Haka makes me quite emotional and we
really do have some rich heritage which is celebrated daily at Waitakere
College. It has inspired me to learn about other cultures, languages and maybe
one day travel the world.
Another thing I really love about my second family is
that we get loud and we get excited. We’re not afraid to show our appreciation,
our support and our respect. A leadership team from the college recently
attended an overnight camp at AUT with other leadership teams from other
colleges around Auckland. They turned up in their uniforms, blazers and began
as quite reserved. Waitakere College were there in shorts and rec shirts, ready
to go. We were definitely the most enthusiastic school and we threw ourselves
head first into every activity. We were lucky enough to have some amazing AUT
ambassadors to help us along the way and our team really benefited from the
experience.
I could go on and on about everything that I love about Waitakere
College. The teachers, the atmosphere, the inclusion support unit that aids disabled
students to have full high school experience and so on. It has become very
clear to me that what I once thought about the college was wrong. Our pass
rates continue to go up and up, in an increasingly dramatic fashion. Our
teachers and older students put endless amounts of extra time into making sure
that each and every one of our students cross that finish line. Our tolerance
for drugs and any kind of bullying has always been zero and we continue to put
programmes in place to ensure that it is not a part of our community. We are
always moving forward, we recently made it compulsory for year nines to bring
in chrome books so that we can develop efficiently in this technology run
world.
But the thing, that I love most about Waitakere College, is we recognize
that everyone is different. We celebrate and nurture each other in our
strengths and weaknesses and this ultimately helps us to grow into people that
can contribute and give back to our communities outside of school. This year is
my last year at Waitakere College and I hope to make it a really good one
because I am so sad to leave.
I am privileged to be a part of the Prefect
leadership team this year and it is my goal to not only be a great role-model
for other pupils but to leave a legacy through my ideas and hard work around
the school. I owe it to my school for all the hard work they have expended on
me. My school believed in me and I will be forever grateful for that.
- Molly Fausett
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