Charlotte Mossman
Hi everyone
I think that the hostel is a really great environment to live in.
I first started here in 2006 for my first year at college and it was such a huge change for me. My previous school had about 28 people in the whole school and 3 people in my year, and then I came here with about 28 people in my year. Going to school for the first time was even more of a change! But it was ok because I had all my new friends from my dorm who were all thinking the same.
I think over the years of being at school the hostel has created so many different opportunities that I would never have thought of, like in the weekends we go to all sorts of different places and do different activities like Jet Sprints, bowling, swimming, the beach and lots more. I also think that being able to have a two hour prep time has really helped me in being able to complete my homework. There are also computers available to be able to access the internet and complete assignments.
I really think that the last 5 years have been really great!
Hope to see you here soon
Charlotte Mossman
Head Girl
Tim Groves
Hey, Tim Groves here.
I have just been reminded that I have to write an article for the hostel website, well actually it was about 3 weeks ago, but have been busy with all the hostel activities, like swimming in the school pool or mucking around on the tramp or playing tennis. I can remember my first exciting day at the hostel when I was dropped off out in front of the hostel by my brother and I met a funny fellow called Andrew Hicks-Small, the first thing he said was “hey, what year are you in” when it was only third formers at the hostel at this time! 3rd form was really cool when I had made lots of friends and we started to get into the hostel life. I thought my 3rd form year went by rather quickly, I was in for a surprise as the 4th form went even quicker. Now in the 7th form I have friends for life.
I ‘ve found the hostel great because they have pushed me to my potential by allowing me to get involved in everything I wanted to do from sports to academic achievements. You get taken to where ever you want to go, not many day students would get the same opportunities that we have had, along with having all my friends around me all the time.
Other awesome things at our hostel are the common room areas, with a big screen, sky TV, games room with pool tables, air hockey and table tennis and a canteen. We now also have a really cool gym area where all students can exercise on the various equipment we have.
Our mini gym is cool as well for playing all sorts of games in, so in the cooler months we can still get to run around inside.
Someone asked me if I could turn back time to discussions held about coming to a boarding school and got to choose to either be a day student or board, now that I have been boarding and know what it is like what would I have chosen? I would most definitely choose boarding. Mostly because I never get bored and not many day students would get the same opportunities that we get, along with having all my friends around me all the time.
Tim Groves
Head Boy
Alena Barber
Hey, I’m Alena Barber; I was born in Canada but am now being raised in Martinborough. I am educated at Wairarapa College and stay at the hostel during the weekdays. I am 15 years old and in year 11. I started at the hostel in 2008 as a year 9, I still remember throwing my suitcase in the car and my parents taking pictures of me in my darlin’ uniform. Walking into the dorm for the first time gave me butterflies, I remember seeing all these new and interesting faces and hearing all this noise that I now know was gossip.
I spent my primary years at a small school and coming to Waicol hostel was like being in a whole new world, a wonderful drama of giggles, 6.30’s, matrons and boys. Not much to complain about though. Here you are always busy and you’re never, ever alone. An average day consists of being woken up by an extremely awake matron, getting into the lovely uniform a healthy brekkie and then a long day at school (argh!) After school you come back to your pad and either hang around with mates or go off to sport or extra activities, dinner comes next, then prep (as we like to call it torture), 2 hours for seniors of utter silence, but I guess you get your homework done, then its socialising time, bed time, then it is all repeated. Yes boarding school may sound like a military camp where no-one has fun or lives, but it actually isn’t that bad, I mean who doesn’t mind living with your best mates and having your laundry done for you.
I better get back to work
Peace
Alena xo
Alena Barber
Jake Hunt
Hi, I’m Jake and I am going to give you readers a bit of a heads up on what’s been going on at the Wairarapa College Hostel.
I have been at the hostel for nearly six months and have enjoyed every day of it. At the hostel we have a scheduled breakfast, lunch and bedtime etc. After school everyone is free to do as they please (until tea and prep). You can even stay in for the weekends. During the weekends we do many things such as going down to Wellington to watch the rugby or the soccer, sometimes we might go to a movie or go to the beach and much more. All of these activities are organised by our brilliant team of supervisors. In the summer (terms 1 and 4) we all are able to go outside on the court to play tennis, jump on the trampoline, shoot hoops, play volleyball on the sand or go play some rugby on the oval. There is also a T.V room, fully equipped with a projector, SKY TV with the movie, sports, kids and music channels. We even have a games room, with two pool tables, an air hockey set and three table tennis sets. Another part of the hostel I haven’t told you about is the Computer Room, aka the Moss Room. In here are five computers and two places to hook a laptop up to. In winter (terms 2 and 3) we can bring in our T.Vs and play stations/X-Box to play on or to watch movies. Every evening we have a period of time in the dining room called Prep. In this time all of the students are expected to do homework, for juniors (Year 9 and 10’s) prep time is one hour and a half and for the seniors (Years 11, 12 and 13), prep is two hours long.
The hostel is a fantastic place to be and I strongly recommend it to anyone who lives far away and is looking to head to Wairarapa College.
Jake Hunt