14 May 2019
On the 14th of May my Mum and I set off on our little adventure to Sydney for my Harding Miller Education Foundation awards night. We arrived at the Song hotel in Sydney a bit after 2 pm (no thanks to the car GPS which decided to freeze, without us noticing, when we were in the middle of Sydney). We dropped off our luggage quickly and went to explore the big city.
Mum and I walked to Darling Harbour and then we went to Sydney Sea Life Aquarium and looked at different aquatic animals. After we went to Sea Life Mum and I walked across the Pyrmont Bridge and then walked through China Town on our way back to the hotel. When we were walking back we found a nice restraint where we decided to have dinner.
After we had finished dinner it was fairly late and our feet were aching from all the walking we had done but we still hadn’t quite finished exploring for that day so we decided to catch a train to Circular Quay and we saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. After that we were both very tired so we went back to our hotel for what we thought was a well-earned rest.
The next morning before I had to go to Town Hall for my scholarship, mum and I went to do more exploring. We walked to the botanical gardens and looked at different plants and different gardens. While we were there we met some people who had a weaving shop. They gave us a demonstration of weaving and taught us how to set up the thread on the machine. They then showed us what the finished product looks like.
When we finished at the Botanical Gardens we walked back through Hyde Park to get to the hotel so I could get dressed and ready to go to Town Hall for my awards night. Once I was all dressed up in the formal Merriwa School uniform, it was time to go down to the hotel lobby. When I was there I met with all the other girls who had had also received the Harding Miller Education scholarship and we all walked with a staff member from Harding Miller to Sydney Town Hall.
When we got there we went to the Marconi Room and we received a bag and a few sheets of paper and a couple of puzzles that we had to fill out throughout the day. Then we were split into groups of two or three people and we had to go to all different learning stations around the room.
I was in a group with a girl named Elizabeth and we first went to a station that had mathematical activities that we had to do. After we finished at the maths station we went to some different activities around the room, some of these included; the google stand, strive online tutoring, cluey tutoring and more. Throughout the day I met many more girls and created some more friendships with some of them.
At around 3pm we had our stage rehearsals where we practised what we were going to have to do that night. After rehearsals we all went back to the Marconi room to socialise more and to complete our puzzles. When we were all finished, our personal coaches arrived and I was finally able to meet my coach Anita Geluk. After introducing ourselves to our coaches, we went to have dinner with them and get to know each other a bit and learn some things about each other.
When dinner was over we listened to some speeches, including a speech from the director of the Harding Miller Education Foundation- Cara Varian. After speeches, we went back into the hall because the awards night was about to begin. A lot of people were awarded scholarships for anything from academics to musical scholarships. We also watched some amazing performances by the Southern Stars performers. Craig Foster was also there and we listened to him give a speech. When the night was over I went and met with mum and Miss Golden and we got photos of me with my certificate.
The next morning we got up early and started packing up all of our things and getting ready for our trip home. Before we left though we went for one last walk around the city and then we packed up the car and started what felt like a long trip home. That was the end of our little adventure to Sydney for my Harding Miller Education Foundation awards night.
By Tahli Gleeson