Mt A Marvels

Hannah (Year 7)

Hannah recently competed in the National Cyclocross Series which sees cyclists from all over Australia compete in 8 events across 4 different cities.  Hannah raced well and brought home 2 silver medals from Adelaide last weekend. 

She is racing in the next events in the National Series in Ipswich this weekend and in Sydney in July.  Later this year, Hannah will travel to Ballarat to compete in the National Cyclocross Championships. Congratulations Hannah, keep on pedalling!

Pia (Year 8)

Last weekend Pia competed in Qld School Age Rowing Championship Regatta at the State Rowing Centre at Lake Wyarlong. 

Blessed with beautiful weather, there was nothing stopping Pia and her teammates. Pia brough home a gold medal in Division 1, 1km quad scull, and backed it up with winning another Gold in the Division 1, 1km double scull. Congratulations to Pia and her teammates!

Ellen (Alumna - Class of 2022)

Ellen is four months into a Japanese exchange with our sister school, Nigawa Gakuin. We recently checked in with Ellen to hear about her experience so far. 

 From Ellen:  In the last couple of months I have been involved in various in-school and out-of-school events. For example, with the end of the academic year, I was given the opportunity to attend my host sisters high school graduation ceremony - a very formal, family only event - as well as the end of year closing ceremony. Following these events the school holidays arrived, during which, I rode the bullet train up to Tokyo to meet my brother and spend three weeks working our way through some of Japans most famous sights. 

Spending our first week in Tokyo and adjusting to the absolute maze that is the Tokyos train and rail way system, we spent each day exploring new areas such as Akihabara, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ginza and Yokohama. This gave us the opportunity to visit numerous attractions including the Shibuya Sky building, Shibuya crossing, the imperial palace, Meguro’s cherry blossom festival and the Yokohama Gundam factory. 

Following Tokyo, we quickly grew to miss Tokyo’s railways as we made our way to Mount Fuji on what I would consider to be the most …memorable day of the trip. 2 wrong busses, 1 wrong train, another last booked-out bus of the day and a subsequent $150 taxi fare later, we arrived at our hotel in Fujikawaguchiko only for mother-nature to bestow her blessing upon us with thick, grey clouds leaving Mount Fuji completely out of view. Sure to say it was one of the most interesting days of traveling and quickly led to us raiding the local seven-eleven to eat our frustrations away. The following day we continued on traveling on to Nagoya, Kyoto and finally Osaka where my brother was introduced to my host family. After one final week in Osaka, he returned home and the new school year began. 

Following his leaving, the longevity of my trip started to become more apparent as homesickness set in. The knowledge that I could not see my family and loved ones for three more months was something I had been pushing the back of my mind. And with the shift back into the new school term, it was becoming overwhelming and difficult to ignore. But despite this I am continuing to push through and focusing on all the new and exciting experiences I have ahead of me. 

For example, having attended the school entrance ceremony and reuniting with all my class mates. Additionally, one or two days a week, I also make the effort to visit different clubs the school has to offer or try out new activities. Recently, I visited the Naginata club as well as taking part in a couple of Traditional calligraphy classes. Along with this, two weeks ago, I also participated in the school sports festival. All the high school first years through to third years participated in on the school track. Compared to Mount Alvernia which has 3 carnivals, Nigawa runs only one sports carnival across two days encompassing various track events, relays, tug-of-wars and skipping.

The concept of a swimming carnival, in fact, took a lot of my classmates and teachers by surprise. I am so grateful I had the chance to participate in the carnival; the energy of everyone involved was incredible. Tents for each home room lined the running track and everyone cheered and screamed for the participants from their home rooms and year levels. I participated in an activities relay that included events such as sack racing, hurdles and, my event, the Tama-ire. An event in which I had to throw balls into a 3 meter tall basket. I then found out I had also been opted in to run in an upcoming relay on the teachers team. This quickly reminded me, I have never been a runner. It was a fun and worthwhile experience nonetheless.

The mix of new experiences and events I have been involved in the past couple of months have been incredibly fun and something I won’t forget. And I continue to look forward to what lies ahead.