This week we bid farewell to our International Student Abby Nardella

The past term has truly been the best three months of my life. People such as Mrs Flanagan, Ms Tipene, and the Smith family have made it easy to get involved and have amazing opportunities whilst in Alexandra. This includes being apart of the girls football team - who I will miss each of the lovely girls who make up the team, taking me with the 11OE class to their downhill ski days, helping backstage with the Grease production, and allowing me to join the 12OE class which I will most definitely remember the memories made when doing the ropes course, team games, trying out the nearby bouldering room and the snow caving trip - where I learnt to cross-country ski.

Many of you might take this town for granted, but you also might not have anything to compare it to. For me, I really love this town and wish I didn’t have to leave, I’ll miss how close everything is, I’ll miss the ease of being able to walk into town with the beautiful scenery, and most of all I’ll miss so many of you who were welcoming, kind, and encouraging. The community is probably the biggest thing that makes this town so great to me, I will absolutely have to visit again in the Summer holidays and see what other seasons are like in New Zealand and what else Alexandra has to offer after already being such a wonderful experience already.

- Abby Nardella