Mary – Howick
“What I would say to my 11 year old self was, stay in school because education is really important in life. I’d also say, life’s too short so live it to the best you can, and just have fun.
I grew up in Māngere with all my family. In life at the moment I pretty much work full-time at a cafe in Howick – Hancock’s. I have my mum, my dad, plus I have a step-dad – my mum’s husband. I have an older sister, and two younger brothers. I have a 10 year old niece – my sister’s daughter. They all live in Māngere. I have a partner. His name’s Ben. He’s a landscaper, who I live with currently here in Howick, but I love my partner to bits, but there’s times in life where you’ve got to spread your wings and just go on your own. So that was my choice to move away.
I dropped out of school when I was about 16, and I didn’t have NCEA or anything like that. I kind of learned everything off the streets. I kind of wish that I did stay in school and I did actually try and learn. At the time I was mixed up with the wrong crowd. So schooling to me just wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I wish that I had done it.
Auckland is my city to live in as I’ve been here for 28 years. I suppose the only downfall about Auckland will be the traffic, but other than that everything else is great; the people are awesome, and everything is real close, too. After I dropped out of school I got into getting piercings and tattoos. My first piercing I got apart from my ears was my labret, which is no longer there. When I was 14 – as soon as I turned 16 which was the legal age of getting piercings on your own, I got my tongue pierced. As soon as I turned 18 I got tattoos.
I’m actually a dishwasher, so I pretty much wash dishes eight hours a day. I also run for food and coffees – some to the other shops around the area, like the optometrist, the gym. Very nice people own the cafe – all the workers are really helpful and very customer-orientated. My happiness comes from being with people I love – doing things that I love doing, such as working at the cafe. You meet a lot of people. Don’t take things for granted, because sometimes it only comes once, and just be kind to one another, and smile.”
