"Long is the road from conception to completion."

Never have I felt more mixed emotions in my life than the time I walked out of high school. I couldn't decide if I was excited, devastated, nervous, relieved, regretful, or any other emotion I can possibly think of. Everything came to an end that day, and I'm still wondering where I stand (well, I guess it's been less than a week, but I don't think it's something I'll figure out anytime soon...). School was my life, literally. It's all I've ever really thought about and nearly every single one of my goals has something or other to do with school. However, school has come to a close and it's time to move into the next phase of my life.

My blog has repeatedly stated how excited I am for the years to come, outside of school. I still am so excited, and I was beginning to wonder what I will do now without the guidance and support that comes with high school. Sure, I'll still have family and friends that can help me out here and there, but I'm really going to be standing on my own two feet. There won't be a teacher chasing me up about how my major assignment is going, and hardly any people that have spare time (and the right knowledge) to proof read things for me ... it's going to be a huge transition and hopefully one of the most exciting transitions I'll ever make.

I hope to find a new world outside of school, because I know there is one out there. I don't want to forget what my schools have given me over the past thirteen years, but I'm ready to start thinking outside the box. It's up to me now, how I'm going to live my life.

So, this blog post is dedicated to the many teachers that have guided me over the past thirteen years - you know who you are. Particularly my high school teachers, especially those in my final year of schooling. I speak on behalf of everyone, in saying that we couldn't have done it without you. You guys are the reason we're all still sane (somewhat) and the reason we have a solid future waiting for us in 2011.

"The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow."

Every night when I literally crash into my bed and my head hits the pillow I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I have such a comfortable pillow to rest my brain for the next day of school and I can't help but think how lucky I am. The feeling of laying my head on my pillow at night is almost as satisfying as the moments where you wake up at 3am, look at the time and smile to yourself, knowing you still have 4 more hours to sleep, or when you forget that you have a student free day today, like I did this morning and started bashing my snooze button when the clock hit 7:03, and then remember that you have all the time in the world to sleep. I think that's what will excite me most about the completion of Year 12 ... being able to wake up at the time you usually do each morning (stupid body clock functions) and then being able to catch up on the sleep you missed out on throughout the year. Being able to do this for a week straight, or however long it will take you, is going to be incredible. I'm exhausted, but it's not the exhaustion that one night can fix, because I've already tried that. But soon enough, I will be able to sleep for a week straight without knowing that I should really be finishing that assignment or I should be studying for those exams. Awesome.

"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and only cease at death."

I'm sorry to my millions of blog readers out there for not posting in a while, I know how terribly you all must have missed me, to say the least. I've just been busy realising how much work I actually have to get done for Year 12 and spending time catching up on all the work that I've regrettably let fall behind me (that is still quite a large amount, might I add), but you know - I thought I deserved a quick ten minute blogging break before I depart my desk to snuggle up on the couch with a cup of coffee and wish my life was as dramatic as those on Packed to the Rafters (i.e. I'm about to procrastinate for another hour).

Many thoughts considering my plans next year have been flooding my head for the past couple of days (as they usually do) and I have come to the conclusion that maybe Law isn't for me - as interesting and fascinating as it is, I don't think my heart will really be in it, so I conducted some further research into other degrees that just scream Claire. I've found International Studies and it looks soooo good - completely what I've been looking for for the past seventeen years of my life. I will still do Commerce, hopefully picking it up in the second year, so I can follow my long dream of becoming an accountant, and I'll also hopefully pick up French (which gives me the possibility of studying overseas for one or two semesters, which would be incredible!) but needless to say, I am SO much more excited for university now that I know my heart WILL be in it. I also have a few friends that are following the same degree as me (International Studies that is) and it warms my heart to know that one friend is particularly excited to have me do the degree with him (shout out to Matty Jackson here, if you ever read this!).

Anywho, I just thought I should let you all know my plans, because I know you care so much (or so little, but that's not the point), but I'm afraid Packed to the Rafters is calling my name. I'll write to you all in a little while (who knows, I might not have any work to do in my frees tomorrow...) but until then, I wish you all a very happy day/week/month (oh please, don't let it be a month before I can write again!)... whatever. See you soon. Love you all.

"Our ambitions for our country should be as big as the country itself."

I've just spent my last couple of hours dreaming big dreams - and I mean big. I've been doing research as to what I can do to get as close to the prime ministry as possible - yes people, I would like to be the next redhead Prime Minister. I've always had a thing for politics and when I stepped into the House of Representatives during my Canberra trip I just felt like I had a place in there, as crazy as that sounds. I know it's a HUGE dream, but if the other 27 have done it, then why can't I? There are huge stepping stones in every dream that a person has and much needs to be done to fulfill every single dream. I detest it when people put down other people's dreams, because if we didn't have dreams, then we wouldn't get anywhere in life, because we need dreams to succeed. If we don't have dreams, then what IS there to succeed?

In other news, our English Studies trip to Canberra was incredible - SO good. I loved every second of it, whether it was sitting in the House of Reps, freezing during the Memorial ceremony, or just spending time with our beautiful class, including our (old) teacher Abby, who is leaving for Austria soon to pursue HER dreams. We all have dreams, and if yours is something as big as mine (and to be honest, I could suss out a LOT of people that would be a million times better at leading the country than I would be), then go for it. I know it's a cliche, but anything that is humanely possible can be done if you really work for it. It won't happen overnight, and I sure know that - like I said before, EVERY dream requires hard work and a lot of dedication, because every stepping stone isn't just one step apart, it can be many. Just have a go. If you feel like it's your heart talking to you, then follow it.

Have a beautiful week everyone :)

"The best cure for an off day is a day off."

I felt it absolutely necessary this morning when I woke up that I should have a day off today - just for myself. Last night I found myself becoming seriously addicted to the drug called Gossipgirlamphetamine and decided that all my hard work that I had done for the past two weeks of "holidays", I deserved a bit of a break. So, today, I have managed to watch about eight episodes of Gossip Girl (and counting), but as per usual, the guilt of doing no homework is still hanging on my shoulders, but I don't want to do any of it, even though I know I should. I decided long ago that this was going to be a day for me (well, I decided about ten hours ago) so that is the way it will remain. My plan for tonight is going to be choosing tomorrow night's outfit (007 theme - I am way open for suggestions) and starting to lay out clothes to take to Canberra. I'm seriously so excited to freeze in Canberra with my English Studies class - it's going to be so much fun!

I made a tumblr today as well, for no particular reason: http://claire-smiles.tumblr.com - I don't know if I will be able to continue updating on a regular basis, but I made the tumblr especially for those days where I have simply too much homework to write a long line of mumbo jumbo, and I can simply find a picture or a quote to describe my day in a nutshell. So, I encourage you to begin following both (if anyone actually reads this to begin with), if you are seriously that interested in my life.


X O X O, Gossip Girl (yep, I am the Gossip Girl - just kidding).

What makes you happy?

It's a simple question, really. What makes you happy?

Don't worry about what makes other people happy, or what you think makes other people happy. What makes YOU happy? I've just been watching reruns of Dharma & Greg (also known as procrastination for my art exam tomorrow morning, which I take pride in starting revision for today) and I'm watching episode 13 of the first season, which is all about what makes Greg Montgomery happy. It's not his high-paying job as a US attorney that makes him happy, much to Kitty and Edward Montgomery's dismay, but it's cooking, which his wife didn't even know he liked doing because he was so caught up in his job as a lawyer (but mind you, since they married on their first date and have only been together for about three months now, there's probably a lot of things Dharma and Greg don't know about each other, but that's beside the point). It made me think... am I really doing what makes me happy? And the answer is, yes. Many of you would know how focused I am on my goals and my dreams, but I wouldn't have these goals and dreams if they weren't what made me happy, because I wouldn't want to spend my life any other way - life is way too short to get caught up doing things that make you unhappy, because once a day is gone, you're never going to get it back. So, if you are doing things that make you unhappy, I encourage you to find something that does make you happy and do it. Dylan Thomas put it nicely into his poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", which I spent a few decent minutes revising and writing about in my English Studies exam on Monday morning - "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." He puts it nicely I think - don't die softly, because life is too valuable to give up just like that.


If it means spending your Saturday mornings making multi-coloured paper boats, then do it. There is so much happening out there that can make you happy, so take a minute and think about what you could be doing that would put a smile on your face every minute of every day. I think life would be just that little bit sweeter :)

Movie nights.

Movie nights are so invigorating. I spent three hours with my girls last night lining up at Piccadilly Cinemas at 11pm to see the midnight release of the third Twilight movie - it was amazing, but I'm not going to waste my time writing about how hot Jacob Black is or how much we wish we were in Edward Cullen's pants right now, because we all know that anyway. Instead, I'm going to focus on a few different things, such as the fact that I never thought I would be lining up outside a cinema waiting for the release of a new movie, especially a Twilight one. And before last night, I had forgotten what a night out with the girls felt like, because I've been crammed up inside my bedroom doing this little thing called year 12 and it's taken away any freedom like I had last night. Sure, I see the girls every now and then and we have great conversations at school, but last night was just incredible. There was just something uber special about it - maybe it was the mutual coldness that we all shared but weren't able to snuggle up to each other because the seat dividers wouldn't rise, or maybe it was the continual 'wala-wala-wala-winchaaa' (Packed to the Rafters reference right there) that we felt compelled to do whilst waiting for the movie to begin. Or maybe even it was reflecting on year 9 English class as we saw the new trailer for 'Tomorrow, When the War Began'. Or even, it could have been the fact that none of us had read Eclipse in about a trillion years and had completely forgotten about everything that happened, so everytime we remembered something when it came onto the screen one of us would whisper 'ohhhh, that's right'. Whatever it was, it was brilliant.