Steph | Drury

“A big thing that’s influenced me this year is starting a new church in Papakura, which is called Elim Christian Centre, Papakura and it’s really important to my life because of the community that is involved in being a part of it. It’s really amazing to have people around you all the time that you can rely on, and that you can go to, and I think that community is really important.

I’ve always had friends around me, and throughout high school I was blessed with some awesome friends in my life, but I think that it’s really powerful and special to have people in your life that are like-minded and for me, that was a group of people that shared the same faith as me, and I don’t think  I was really lonely, but I think that you feel isolated when you don’t have people that are like-minded in that way.

I grew up in a rural kind of area, and my  immediate family are Christians, so we grew up going to church, and that influences the way that you see things going into school. And for me, as a Christian that was a really important part of growing up. Definitely in the last few years, that has been more of a focus in my life, and it’s really special to grow up in that kind of community and be surrounded by people that you know are going to surround you with love.

So, I’m currently studying to be a primary teacher at the University of Auckland. I’m in my second year, and in the future, I hope to be a primary school teacher, and I hope to do something with the performing arts.”