Mahana | Ōtāhuhu
“The most challenging thing that I’ve had to go through at the moment would have to be just juggling family and everything that I want to accomplish as well.
For me family is one of the biggest things in my life, and just having to support them and help them with everything, and take into consideration what they want and what they think is best for me compared to what I actually want to do. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that I’ve had to overcome and balance.
Before I finished school I always wanted to cook, I always wanted to bake, and so my biggest goal at the moment, even though I’m studying teaching, is to own my own café. Own and run my own cafe, that’s my biggest goal at the moment.
I took the year off uni this year because I just felt it got too much, like all the pressure and stuff. The most part that I need support with at the moment in my life would probably be just juggling everything. I have so much on my plate at the moment; I have to juggle family commitments, work commitments, and just person things as well. I don’t like to talk, I tend to handle things on my own, if that makes sense.
I am the most independent person. I like to get things done on my own, however there’s just certain times where you just need the support of other people whether it being family, the community, friends and stuff like that. So knowing that people are there to support, it probably would make things a lot easier on me. [I] can honestly say it would be support. There’s just a whole lot going on and the things that I want to get accomplished I honestly don’t think I could do it on my own.
I don’t like disappointing my family, and whenever it comes to something that they want me to do, or they think I should do, I’ve always been the one to just do it. It’s not always exactly what I want to do but, but that’s just me, family is everything to me.
The one person that I don’t like disappointing is my dad, so when it came to me taking a year off this year, I didn’t want to tell him. I couldn’t sleep and as much as I was stressing and everything, like and stuff; I needed to tell him. When I did tell him he took it a lot better than I thought. Disappointment is probably the biggest struggle that I’ve had to go through. I don’t like disappointing people. I don’t like failing people.
For me, community means family. People coming together who don’t know each other, who don’t often get along with each other, but helping each other out. Building a home together that’s what I think. I just think, just love one another. Everything happens for a reason but I’m just like, if we all come together as one, and just love one another there’s always going to be peace and harmony in our communities.”
