Hannah | North Shore

“There is something that I kind of think about every day, that does affect me. When I was six, my mother passed away, and my grandparent took me in. She couldn’t really afford to look after me, so I kind of had to teach myself how to be an adult, really young.

I’m 17, and not a lot of people look at me and think that she’s 17, I’ve had quite a hard road getting through that pain and stuff. So, I guess that it’s shaped me to be this person.

Well, obviously both going through that loss, we kind of just had each other, and she had also gone through the loss of her mum in the same year, so we were kind of really close for a bit. She taught me how to brush off people’s negativity and whatever people say to you, it’s just words, and physical pain is worse than just someone saying something to you. She was in the Ministry of Education, so I looked up to her for being quite a smart woman, and I was born a bit differently to my family. I’m the only Māori child in my family, and the rest are blonde and blue-eyed Pakeha, but I felt quite accepted, regardless. They, they didn’t seem to mind that I was quite different compared to my other cousins and she basically raised me telling me to be the best person I could be and to treat everyone else how I’d want to be treated myself, yeah.

I’d want to say thank you, Nan for everything. You’ve done a lot for me. You’re very special, and I know I’m not going to have you forever, so I guess I better cherish the days that I do. 

I grew up in Onehunga with my mum till I was four. It was alright, I don’t really remember anything too big happening around then. From then on, I moved into New Lynn, which is like Blockhouse Bay, and it’s around West Auckland areas, and from there we moved down to Katikati, which is just out of Tauranga, a small town. So, from Auckland to a small town is not very fun, especially when you’re used to big cities, and just going to a place with one Countdown and a Four Square, it’s not very fun.

I would say, if I really thought about it, I value positivity between people. I don’t like hearing about all this stuff happening overseas, about all the wars against people and what countries are becoming. I talk about this with my friends a lot. It’s a big topic to discuss around my age-group at this time, the, wars, and the famines, and all that’s happening around the world. 

At the moment, I’m currently seeking employment, because I’ve finished my tertiary education, and I’m looking to study to become an architect. I’m still young, so hopefully I’m working for a few years to get my stuff together and learn how to pay bills, and do normal stuff before I go out into the big world alone.”