Debate | Issue 8 | Growing Pains | 2021

Debate ISSUE 8 | GROWING PAINS | 2021

we're here for you • Student representation • Advocacy and legal information • Support with student employment • Opportunities to engage through Debate magazine, clubs, recreation and social activities

@AUTStudentAssociation

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@autstudentassociation

autsa.org.nz

EDITORS Alana McConnell, Nam Woon Kim alana.mcconnell@aut.ac.nz nam.woon.kim@aut.ac.nz DESIGNER Kwok Yi Lee ILLUSTRATORS Yi Jong, Kwok Yi Lee FEATURE WRITER Alana McConnell SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Nam Woon Kim LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE EDITOR Lucy Wormald STUDENT NEWS REPORTER Justin Wong NEWS WRITER Justin Hu CONTRIBUTORS Daria Carrothers, Briar Pomana, David Williams ADVERTISING Jesse Jones jesse.jones@aut.ac.nz PRINTER Nicholson Print Solutions

DISCLAIMER Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AUTSA, its advertisers, contributors, Nicholson Print Solutions or its subsidiaries.

This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUT STUDENT ASSOCIATION (“AUTSA”).

Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly. Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AUTSA.

Debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA).

Contents 4

From the Editors

5

Petitioning Residents at New AUT City Accommodation

6

Government Tightens Students' Pastoral Care Standards

8

Lack of Communication Saw AUTSA General Meeting Adjourned Early

10

Seasoned Students

12

What's On

14

Giveaways

16

Licence to Adult

19

Small Towns, Burning Rubbish & River Rats

20

The Next Coming of Age Movie you Should Watch!

22

Losing my Religion

26

Coming of Age in the Anthropocene

28

Fairy Got No Time for This!: Volume II

29 Puzzles 30 Horoscopes

FOLLOW DEBATE! debatemag.com debate_mag autsadebate

Cover illustration by Yi Jong

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From the Editors Kia Ora, I’m Alana, the new co-editor of Debate alongside Nam. If you’ve been a religious reader this year you may have seen me whipping up articles as the feature writer, giving my unsolicited opinion on a wide array of topics.

As excited as I am to be the new co-editor with all the challenges that come, the task is also a bit daunting too. I have a bad tendency to pull myself in lots of different directions, and end up feeling pretty burnt out and run down. Creating a whole magazine issue in two weeks is no easy feat, but I’ve got an amazing co-editor with me and a whole team of passionate and talented individuals who work hard to bring you amazing design work, news stories, features and the odd horoscope.

It’s also incredibly exciting to think about the new direction of the magazine, getting contributors from all over the university to share their own perspectives, ideas and creativity on campus.

Feeling burnt out is common no matter what life stage, whether you’ve just started university, ventured out into the

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working world, or are trying to balance the two together. I struggle to find that delicate line between having way too much going on, or nothing at all to occupy my time.

Boredom can feel agonising, but also who wants to be so stressed and busy there’s no time to stay up to date with Love Island? I love to have structure to my days,I think we all do to some degree.

But it’s also important to take time out of the grind, to center us, calm us and give us space. I hope you can also take some precious time for yourself, in the form of reading Debate front to back on your spare hour off from class, listening to that podcast you’ve been recommended five times, or cooking a comforting meal of pasta at the end of a long day.

And I’m Nam, Alana’s co-editor of Debate for the rest of this year. If you’d told me a year ago I’d not only be paid to write, but also eventually run this humble magazine I’d give myself a hug and probably take it a bit easier. As cliché as this sentiment is, feeling lost is very much normal so don’t be too hard on yourself – I know I often am.

Shoutout to Alana for writing her letter first which took the pressure off me to put together something as well-rounded as hers – future editorials will hopefully be cowritten as we settle into the role. Growing pains, then, felt like an appropriate place to start. As a topic adjacent to coming of age, we felt it was a strong option to go with and I hope that’s reflected in the pieces we have for you here. Our not-so-secret weapon, Lucy, has some alarmingly relatable content – who doesn’t have eco-anxiety? – and David shares what it’s like for older students returning to study. If you’ve been following the news like the informed student you are, Justin and Justin also have a couple of updates on the shambles that is student accommodation.

With the rest of the semester coming in hot, we’ve also got our eyes set on what we can do to end on a bang. Vesbar Debate takeover? Board games at the office? Who knows.

Ngā mihi, Alana and Nam

Petitioning Residents at New AUT City Accommodation

By Justin Hu (he/him) Misleading advertising over a recreational centre has sparked a petition for rent reduction at AUT’s newest city accommodation, some residents allege.

Fifty-one residents of the uni’s Mayoral Drive accommodation have signed a petition demanding a rent reduction, saying they believed that the university’s marketing boasting of recreational facilities was misleading.

Residents have numerous complaints, including that recreational facilities such as the sports court are not part of the accommodation area they live in and that UOA students must pay to use the facilities.

Debate has spoken to multiple residents at Mayoral Drive who have spoken at length about their experiences. One resident said the issue was driving them to reconsider their accommodation.

“Many residents including myself were planning on moving in because they advertised these facilities as being part of the accommodations.” “$375 is quite a lot for a studio room and a commons area — and the room is not very big either, to be honest. If they didn’t advertise these facilities, then our decision to move in would be changed quite a bit,” the resident said.

Petition signers were also unhappy about construction delays, as previously reported on by Debate, which meant that the facilities were only available from the start of semester two. Residents say they were not informed about this until they had moved in.

AUT’s original marketing said the residents would have access to “a recreation centre and sports court, and shared study, social and dining spaces.”

According to the university, the text was changed in May — after complaints from students who had already moved in.

While the complex is AUT-branded, the buildings themselves are owned

by Cedar Pacific who run the student accommodation complex through its UniLodge subsidiary.

The university leases its space from Cedar Pacific. As a result, parts of the complex, which include the recreation centre, are not accessible from residence elevators.

Rino, a building resident and first-year student at AUT, says he agreed that the facilities were a significant part of what made the accommodation seem attractive.

“The reason I moved here was to use a basketball court and gym. We thought that this would all be included in the same building. [...] Now we learn that it’s closed in some hours on the weekend and we have to book it to use it.”

Another first-year student, who intends on flatting once their contract is up, said that AUT’s Wellesley Student Apartments (WSA) are a better deal for students.

“If I was told that this wasn’t done until semester two, then I would’ve moved into the cheaper hall where I would’ve also had better access to a sports court. [...]

I'm planning on flatting next year instead, once my contract runs out here.”

AUT WSA includes a courtyard with a volleyball and basketball court for residents.

According to a resident, some residents had considered taking legal action over the issues. The original petition was drafted with help from AUTSA’s advocacy team before submission to AUT. Other residents, spoken to by Debate, said they were also increasingly unhappy with newly introduced house rules within the complex. These were not part of the original petition.

In response to the petition, an AUT spokesperson said in a statement that the contracts signed by students did not mention a recreation centre and that the delay to completion wasn’t enough to justify a reduction in rent.

“Accommodation ads frequently include nearby attractions and places of interest and the contracts signed by residents made it absolutely clear what their rental costs include.”

“Students living in the residence are charged a market related fee that does not include an amount for use of the recreation centre.”

For non-AUT residents, the university says that it’s still unclear how much outside students would have to pay.

Debate understands that AUT have been negotiating with UniLodge about the charge for non-AUT students.

“At this early stage of opening, any access charges have not been confirmed.

Decisions regarding any charges will be made in consultation with AUTSA.“ The recreational facilities are currently free for all AUT students, who have paid for it through their compulsory student levies. 

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Government Tightens Students' Pastoral Care Standards

By Justin Hu (he/him) and Justin Wong (he/him) The Government has announced stronger pastoral care standards will be in place for all tertiary students from next January.

Under a revised code of practice, tertiary institutions will have to follow more stringent wellbeing standards and domestic students will soon have access to an independent disputes resolution scheme.

Changes were sparked after the death of Canterbury University student Mason Pendrous at his student hall in 2019, where his body went undiscovered for weeks by staff.

An interim code of practice for students’ pastoral care was passed into legislation later that year and was followed by a parliamentary inquiry into student accommodation in 2020.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the new standards made clear that the responsibility was shared with education providers and it would further support the wellbeing and safety of domestic and international students.

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The government also says that NZQA will be appointed as an administrator to ensure the code's new standards are being met by tertiary institutions.

Education providers are also now required to have practices to take account of student voice.

The finalised code comes after a twoyear campaign for improved standards by student advocates. It will merge the existing code for international students and the interim code for domestic students into a single permanent code for all providers.

The new disputes resolution scheme for domestic students will use a similar model to what has already been implemented for international students in 2016.

Domestic students will soon be able to access the service if they have financial or contractual disputes with an education provider that can not be resolved directly with the provider. The scheme will be run by an independent operator. The dispute resolution scheme

“Releasing the new code is a big step towards improving student experiences.

for international students will continue

“Having positive wellbeing and care is essential for young people to get the most out of their tertiary education experience, when they’re on campus or in university halls.”

New Zealand Union of Students'

operating separately.

Associations (NZUSA) president Andrew Lessells said that the finalised code was a “very good start”, but required commitment from all parties involved.

The finalised code comes after a two-year campaign for improved standards by student advocates.

“The implementation of the code will be crucial to its overall success. This is the start of better wellbeing and safety of learners, not the end.

“A code that empowers learners and creates consistency is a major step towards creating a barrier-free education sector.”

The release of the final code came after MPs had concluded debate on the parliamentary inquiry into student accommodation by the Education and Workforce Committee.

Throughout the debate, there was consensus amongst speakers that Mason Pendrous’ death had been the wakeup call that lawmakers needed to act, which prompted the enactment of an interim pastoral care code that laid the groundwork for the finalised code.

Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick, who led the charge against accommodation provider practices, paid tribute to Mason by quoting his stepfather, who had spoken about his death following the enactment of the interim code.

"He wasn't a young man that died alone — he's a young man that changed the law and it doesn't give me comfort, but it makes me feel a little bit happier that he's changed the world," the Green MP said.

Ilam MP Sarah Pallett said that tertiary institutions should be cognisant of the student’s death going forward.

“I would urge all of our tertiary institutes to keep Mason Pendrous in their thoughts as they work to make the positive changes that are so needed,” the Labour MP said.

MPs also recognised the struggles that students faced amid last year’s Covid lockdowns, which had prompted the original inquiry.

During last year’s Level 4 lockdown, practices by accommodation providers were under scrutiny amid complaints of mistreatment at multiple unis. Inconsistent policies between universities saw many students being charged for rooms they were unable to use as a result of the lockdown.

In response to allegations of mistreatment from students, AUT Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack told the inquiry that “there was not a consistent approach [between universities] because we were all flying blind in a difficult situation.”

Completing their inquiry, the Education and Workforce Committee’s final report did not go as far as some submitters suggested.

resolve disputes with providers at the Tenancy Tribunal, with it recommending to set up a disputes resolution scheme instead.

The report stopped short of suggesting phasing out for-profit student halls and giving those living in halls the right to resolve disputes with providers at the Tenancy Tribunal, with it recommending to set up a disputes resolution scheme instead.

The committee said that they believed the scheme would be empowered to better resolve disputes between accommodation landlords and students going into the future.

More information about the implementation of the new pastoral care code will be released in the coming months and into 2022. 

The report stopped short of suggesting phasing out for-profit student halls and giving those living in halls the right to

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Lack of Communication Saw AUTSA General Meeting Adjourned Early

By Justin Wong (he/him)

It began after a quorum was achieved by in-person and online attendees around

An AUTSA general meeting in July was

1pm, but President Sisifa Lui broke off

forced to finish early after failing to retain

the meeting one hour in, as a headcount

the 30 students required to continue.

found an insufficient number of students

The July 26 meeting at Vesbar was delayed by more than 30 minutes as a

were present.

The meeting intended to update the

quorum of 30 students was not present

student association’s audited accounts,

at the scheduled start time of 12.30pm.

and discuss issues such as the

2021 elections, the Te Ara Poutama Representative vacancy and vote on the future of the Accommodation Officers role.

The adjournment meant the vote could not proceed and the item was deferred to the next Student Representation Council (SRC) meeting in August.

AUTSA’s Constitution said the student association must hold at least two

Left: AUTSA had its first General Meeting on July 26 at Vesbar. Right: AUTSA President Sisifa Lui (front) and Vice President - Community Amandeep Singh (behind) at the student association’s General Meeting on July 26.

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Ordinary General Meetings during the academic year, and one “should be held before the end of May”.

It also ruled that written notice of the meeting’s time and place must be published “at least three weeks before the meeting date”, and posted on all notice boards “at least one week before the meeting date”.

However, the SRC only released the General Meeting’s agenda less than one week before the meeting date. AUTSA also did not post about the meeting on its Facebook page until 10 minutes before it was scheduled to start, with the post only containing a Microsoft Teams link with no mention of the meeting’s time and venue.

When questioned on why AUTSA did not notify students of the meeting in advance, Lui said the date needed to be suitable for the association’s operation staff and agreed by the Governance Board.

“We took it upon ourselves to push for a date that can just hurry up and go for it.

“There was a bit of a delay in that process and we do apologise that we weren’t there at the time to notify for this meeting.”

Lui has been contacted for comment on why the SRC did not call the meeting before the end of May as the Constitution required.

AUTSA also announced nominations for this year’s elections would run from July 28 to August 20.

Candidates would be announced on August 23, while voting would start on September 14 and close on October 1.

Results would be released on October 6.

as the General Meeting did not vote on

The timeline is much later than previous elections, with last year’s results being announced mid-September, while guidelines under AUTSA’s Constitution said nominations should open during week two of semester two, on the week starting 20 July.

The same option also proposed having

The President’s position will be up for election, as current holder Sisifa Lui will be finishing her two-year term.

Other roles in the election include both Vice Presidents for Academic and Community, after attendees at the General Meeting voted 14-10 to reject having a Vice President responsible for incorporating tikanga Māori into AUTSA’s functions.

But representation from the university’s accommodation is yet to be finalised,

whether to merge both Accommodation Officers for the North and City Campus into one role.

representatives nominated from each halls of residence to be non-voting members of the SRC. AUTSA’s audited accounts for 2020 are still not being released at the General Meeting, with General Manager Simon Bell saying they are in “the final stages” and it would be “available in a couple of weeks.”

The Te Ara Poutama student representative still remains vacant after the meeting as no one volunteered to fill the role.

AUTSA also said four candidates have expressed interest in the still-empty North Campus Accommodation Officer role and the SRC would appoint a candidate at its next meeting. 

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Seasoned Students

By David Williams (he/him)

Mature students on campus aren’t uncommon. However, each possess different motivations for returning to study. David Williams recounts his own experiences, alongside two others, on why they’re back at AUT.

One surprising outcome of a closed

I have always loved the news. I follow it

border for tertiary education providers

religiously. So, I finally decided to channel

has been the surge in domestic student

a passion for current affairs with a desire

enrolments. AUT, so far, has experienced

to make a difference in a fractured world

an increase of nearly 1,000 domestic full

into studying journalism and becoming

time equivalent students. Chancellor

a reporter.

Derek McCormack says “To date, 2021 international equivalent full-time students are 750 less than last year and domestic international equivalent full-time students are 900 more than last year.”

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Digital Media student Hannah wanted a challenge that pushed her into studying something creative. She completed her undergraduate in psychology and statistics and wound up working in a

What is driving this upsurge in domestic

field unrelated to either of those topics.

student enrolment? Newsroom suggests

After four years of working in that

a combination of factors. Ben Leonard

field, however, Hannah was left feeling

writes “what makes this boom different

stagnant and uninspired.

from those of past downturns is a combination of border restrictions,

“I decided to return to postgraduate

government ‘fees-free’ programmes

studies out of a personal desire to learn,

and changes to university entrance

develop and find a pathway that I’m

requirements.”2

passionate about.”

Everyone has their own reasons to study

Amy summed it up in four words: “it’s

and what interested me were the students

boring at home.”

returning to university life.

I had a full-time job at a museum before

Being a mother of a seven year old boy, she studies part time, with the rest of her

enrolling at AUT. There was a wonderfully

week taken up by work and childcare.

diverse staff and I encountered visitors

Amy notes that she had always intended

from around the world every day. I loved

to return to study. After being convinced

it. But, in the past 18 months museum

during a conversation with an AUT

visitations have halved. We were operating

lecturer on a beach in Tāwharanui, she

on skeletal staff and thus I lost the

began in 2019. Initially, returning worked

passion for my work.

out very well.

“To date, 2021 international equivalent full-time students are 750 less than last year and domestic international equivalent full-time students are 900 more than last year.”

“Study is more flexible than a full-time job, I was doing something I was interested in, and I was upskilling.”

Returning to study is an exciting opportunity but it can also be accompanied by anxieties, whether economic, social or educational.

I admit, I was nervous to start again.

Although that sentiment is perfectly natural when undertaking something as huge as studying, it didn’t stop the nerves.

What worried me the most was starting again in my 30s. Almost every day, the insidious thought ran through my mind of “you’re too old to do this. Nobody is going to want to hire a 35-year-old journalism graduate."

Amy, 41, was worried that she was going to be the old person in the room. “Yeah, totally. I am 20 years older than some of

1 https://www.debatemag.com/single-post/more-students-less-money-pandemic-exposes-funding-fault-lines 2 https://www.newsroom.co.nz/whats-driving-our-tertiary-education-boom

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Almost every day, the insidious thought ran through my mind of “you’re too old to do this. Nobody is going to want to hire a 35-year-old journalism graduate.” the people in the room.” Studying at AUT has made the transition easier for her though, she didn’t feel like an outsider.

“Before enrolling at AUT, I took a philosophy class at Auckland University, and I was the only female in the room. Even then, that class felt more like a lecture.”

She affirms that AUT is great for people over 25 because it feels more interactive.

For Hannah, she found her workplace experience useful for the transition.

“I found it a little bit daunting getting back into the mindset of studying… but I have found that my age, work and life experience have provided me with many transferable skills that have been just as important to my studies as essay writing skills.”

topic and being intellectually stimulated again eventually drowned out any nagging doubts I may have had about returning to study. I am finally excited about what I do every day.

Hannah is more confident about her future career path than she was coming out of undergraduate study. She is passionate about helping people and wants to find a career to align with this passion. “Through my future work, I’d like to provide practical support to make a difference in people’s lives.”

However, for Amy, COVID-19 disrupted her finely balanced life. She initially started off studying towards a master's part time before COVID-19. But, putting an entire family into lockdown meant that she could not sustain work, study, childcare and running a house all at the same time.

“All of a sudden I had to magic time. For the first few weeks, during a seven-week lockdown, I thought, yeah, I can do this.

It’s just for a period of time. By week four, I had to ring up and say, I cannot sustain this.” The demanding timetable caught up with her.

Once Amy finishes her post graduate

Returning to study later in life can sometimes provide a clarity that is often missing during undergraduate years.

diploma, she plans to take up her master's again. By combining her practical experience in communications – she worked as a writer and presenter for a series of DIY and gardening shows before having a baby – with newly acquired academic experience, Amy is excited to be able to put more credibility in the theories

Returning to study later in life can sometimes provide a clarity that is often missing during undergraduate years. If you go to university straight out of high school you may not have the clearest picture about your identity or what you want your future to look like. For myself, returning to study reinvigorated the desire to learn something new.

she is putting forward. “[by getting a

I cannot believe I did not do this sooner.

Finally, I feel like I am studying something I’m passionate about. My appetite for the

classes who looks a little more seasoned,

master's] I will certify my knowledge and be able to contribute it to other people.”

Each of us has a different pathway in life. Some are lucky enough to find their passion straight away. However, many must navigate different routes throughout their lives, each for different reasons.

Next time you see someone in one of your they will no doubt have their own unique story as to why they returned. 

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What's On

Olivia Rodrigo Tribute Night

Auckland Restaurant Month

Where: Galatos

Where: Auckland CBD

When: 14th August

When: Now until 31st August

What: If SOUR has been on repeat, this is the

What: Auckland Restaurant Month is in

party for you. Get your boogie in at Galatos

full-swing – take advantage of the $25 Menu

where they’ll be playing Olivia Rodrigo and

Deals your favourite spots have going like

everything from Megan Thee Stallion to

Fed Deli’s 3 Desserts offer, or try somewhere

SOPHIE.

new like Chuffed, who are doing a two-course

Cost: $15.50 (booking fee inc.)

lunch and wine.

Cost: $25<

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Phoebe Rings Release Party

Auckland Fried Chicken Festival 2021

Where: Basement Theatre

Where: Shed 10

When: 19th August

When: 21st August

What: Previously covered in our music issue,

What: The Auckland Fried Chicken Festival is

local dream pop unit Phoebe Rings are

back this year at Shed 10 with a line-up of local

throwing a release party for their debut EP.

food trucks and pop-up restaurants. All meals

Accompanying them are a live string section

will be capped at $10 or less, too, so you can

(including a harpist!) to add those extra layers

make the most of having the best fried chicken

of lush instrumentation.

in one spot.

Cost: $22.55 (booking fee inc.)

Cost: $16.38 (booking fee inc.)

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Giveaways Have you been experiencing symptoms of growing pains lately? We’ve got some prizes to give away that might bring you some relief. Follow us on Instagram @debate_mag and DM us with a song that helped you get through tough times in the past. (Mine would be 'By Your Side' by Sade.)

Splish Splash Candle from Gorman

Academy Cinema Double Pass Tickets

This 100% soy natural wax candle will immediately transport you to a cosy cabin high on a wooded mountain with its fresh pine scent.

There’s no better #selfcare idea than lighting up a candle when you’ve gotten home from a long day on campus to immerse yourself in an

Tucked away just next to AUT’s city campus, Academy Cinema plays old classics and up and coming flicks regularly. Down many flights of stairs and with limited service, take a night out for yourself and a special boo and treat yourself to a film buff’s escape.

aromatic bubble bath and snuggle into bed!

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Puzzle Glacier from Shut the Front Door For some, a 500 piece puzzle is the perfect midweek activity on a cold evening. If that someone happens to be you, then we have the perfect giveaway coming your way! This epic glacier motif is one of nature’s greatest feats. It will also keep you occupied for hours on end if you are trying to reduce screen time or want a quiet night in with the flatties with limited talking.

Kokako Keep Cup If you’ve been meaning to get on the keep cup train for a while, this is your calling.

Be an eco-friendly king or queen with this glass keep cup from Kokako, perfect for a steaming hot Americano, or coconut milk latte, whatever your coffee of choice is. Say goodbye to disposable coffee cups (that was so last week!) and say hello to a new you.

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Licence to Adult

By Lucy Wormald (she/her), illustrated by Yi Jong (she/her)

Standing at the edge of childhood I would peer at the border that marked the entrance to adulthood through binoculars. This border was a jungle, peculiar and thrilling, strewn with first-times, fragranced with teen angst.

From my perch, this space was tinted with the romance

The spaces occupied by an individual change between childhood and adulthood.

of adulthood, life was to unfurl – grand, big, vibrant. I felt lured across, both by my eagerness and the weight

A rite of passage – a term first coined by French

of inevitability. And yet the space was muted with

ethnographer Arnold Van Gennep – is a ritual that moves

a trepidation – rationale, monotony, life, circled like

an individual from one state of being to another. This

buzzards.

act is, arguably, most critical at the transition towards

The passage across this border can be a tricky one.

Almost always it cannot be done alone. If you want to get across equipped with the kit required to stand on the opposite side, something is needed to aid your passage.

The spaces occupied by an individual change between childhood and adulthood. The progression from one group into another is often accompanied by a marking act – an act that punctuates time, observes our

adulthood, signposting one's step into power and self.

By defining beginnings and endings in this developmental phase, a rite of passage helps structure our social world, giving shape to our understandings of time and change.

These rites give us the opportunity to turn the change into sacred initiation – empowering and enlightening the child for the stage ahead. It also supports us through the liminal space between childhood and adulthood, allowing an adolescent to mourn and release childhood and

chronologies, and structures the stories we tell ourselves.

acknowledge and welcome adulthood.

The Enkipaata, Eunoto and Olng’esherr ceremonies of

Today, our Western rites of passage are a little blurred –

the Maasai people in which young men are transferred power to safeguard lineage and transmit knowledge.

softer around the edges, their importance less directly acknowledged. We generally do not think of ourselves

The tattooing of Pe’a and malu in Samoa to mark the

as an overly ritualistic society – relegating the language

privileges of adulthood. The bar and bat mitzvah. Inuit

of its practices to history and our Indigenous peoples.

children venturing into the wilderness of North Baffin

Yet there is a pattern to how we mark life. Birthdays,

Island with their fathers to test their hunting skills.

weddings, funerals are all deeply ceremonial and weighted

The world over, it can be seen our cultures inherently

with significance. And we seem to be oblivious of the

comprehend the importance of marking the transition

ritual in our morning coffee, in our sporting events,

from child to adult.

in the commemoration of our histories.

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Today, our Western rites of passage are a little blurred — softer around the edges, their importance less directly acknowledged. We generally do not think of ourselves as an overly ritualistic society – relegating the language of its practices to history and our Indigenous peoples.

With this obliviousness can come a risk of not giving our children the rites of passage they need to cross the border. Without a rite of passage the journey between spaces may miscarry, the transition becoming messy. *** Taking on the function of a rite of passage in our time, is the earning of your driver’s licence. It is an act that proves responsibility for yourself and others. It demonstrates your awareness of, and your commitment to, a set of social and legal rules. Being granted the freedom to determine how and when and why you get and go somewhere expands the space in which you may explore and possess your growing autonomy as a young person.

I was not allowed to learn how to drive until I was 18. My parents, sweetly but perhaps misguidedly, feared for my safety on the wild roads and felt I wasn’t yet ready for this step forward. In Australia, where I was raised, it is normal to first get in a car when you turn 16. On this birthday the question on everyone’s lips is if you are sitting your learner's test that afternoon. I remember being confused at the concern in my friends' eyes when I meekly replied with a “no”.

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Already holding a natural affinity for the magic and spirit of youth, and lacking the structure of a rite of passage, I found myself desperately hesitant and forlorn to let this era of childhood go. I felt a safety in the innocence of being a child and I was deeply comfortable in the childparent dynamic of my family. I could not comprehend living outside of this identity.

When our usual rites of passage are absent, this can produce a profound sense of dislocation and alienation that can be exhausting.

Without a rite of passage at this time I had no outer structure to reflect my own power back to me. I had not the tools nor the permission to acknowledge the presence of my autonomy. And so I felt scared and unentitled to step across the border into adulthood. Without this rite of passage the step was messy and I struggled for two years with rebelling

against my parents, with knowing myself and with locating my freedom outside the shelter of my family.

I found myself caught in this betweenphase for five years, definitely no longer a child but not quite a self-determining adult either. Until at the age of 23 I found myself frustrated and stunted and licence-less.

When our usual rites of passage are absent, this can produce a profound sense of dislocation and alienation that can be exhausting. Existing in this space of limbo can be undermining for the creation of identity and so it is important a clear path forward from this border is illuminated. This process of transitioning from one accepted social role to another is a monumental task, requiring the careful attention of our support network to ensure that the potentiality held is properly channeled into the next stage of one’s life.

In lieu of a rite of passage, the process of crossing the border into adulthood took me a lot of introspection and several tantrums (a childhood last hurrah). I broke and mended the closeness of my relationship with my parents – restructuring the power dynamics between us. I pushed myself to live outside of my comfort zone, alone and self-sufficient, to prove I was capable of owning myself and my decisions. I had to teach myself that I have the power and the authority and the desire to step into this new phase of my life.

Two weeks ago, I got my licence to both drive and be an adult. 

Small Towns, Burning Rubbish & River Rats

By Briar Pomana (she/her)

Briar Pomana offers a love letter to small town folk in this short story. She highlights the significance of living in a small town, in all of its mundanity and quaintness, from the comforting traditions to the familiar faces. Briar hopes it’s a nostalgic reminder of home for Māori and evokes connections to loved ones back in these communities.

Small towns always smell like fireplaces to me. A dulled mood board of a place.

Sheep are plotted down here and there, the stain of their shit rife in each waft.

Along the windy driveways, agapanthus bend and bow, they mirror the people in these towns, those nosy flowers, always in someone’s backyard where they don’t belong. Carried along with the wind, they'll sow their seeds everywhere.

The parents in these towns will pick your kids up on the way there, if you can bring theirs back on your way home. These small town houses never have doors that lock, and always have at least one kid that doesn’t belong at their table, always willing to share the load. Where mailboxes are filled with newspaper but only to hold a fish, a punnet of kina, or a jar of lemon cello neatly inside as a thank you.

In these small towns, there are the Pākehā that run the businesses, like the postal office and mechanics shed. They know everyone and think themselves mayors of these towns. The Māori families work hard and often all together. Their hands turn most of the profit in these towns, though they see little of this. This land knows them and their whakapapa well and their bloodlines never stray too far beyond its boundaries.

These communities where the stark winter river is a dictator. With its ruthless brutality, and cruelty rising further and further above the river beds, making its way into homes and backyards. Destroying driveways and paddocks. The river sees no bounds. Contrarily in the summer, its sweet traces of apple and peach sing in heated ripples. A portal into another realm, the neighbourhood water rats will fling themselves into any part of its body deep enough to make a splash. With their bikes strewn across bush and foliage, their uniforms hanging in the low arching trees, and their holey knickered bums bobbing on the surface. There is no shame existing beyond the riverbank. These royalties solely rely on ugly undies, fat manus and filthy inherited tongues. Such are the glories of rural neighbourhood fame.

Saturdays in these towns are frosty and clean-cut. They're spent on a pitch, on a court, on a field, somewhere down the road, and are accompanied by windbreakers and hot chips. Sundays in these towns are for cups of tea, cheeky cigarettes, and a roast with all the trimmings.

Where mailboxes are filled with newspaper but only to hold a fish, a punnet of kina, or a jar of lemon cello neatly inside as a thank you.

These small towns humble our existence and ground us in the quaintness and mundane. The Uncle that plays his guitar and smokes that tangy-smelling grass will always remember our bright faces and crooked teeth. If you don’t call in to go see that Aunty at the end of the lane, you’re gonna hear about it for the next five years at least. You better go home and sit on someone's deck until midnight and chat about old times. And when you’re from a small town like mine, it pays to go for a swim. Even if it’s the middle of May and the water is littered with golden leaves, even if it’s with those same rough and rugged boys, now men, who you hardly recognise behind their patches and new ink. Come home, have a cup of tea, and make sure you kiss the village that raised you. The river calls to you and even the tuna miss your scabby bum.

Nā Briar Pomana 

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The Next Coming of Age Movie you Should Watch!

By Nam Woon Kim (he/him)

Growing pains: you either kick and scream your way through or take it one painful step at a time. Coming of age movies will always be a favourite of mine so I've put together a super objective chart to help you pick one out for your next movie night. Whether you woke up and chose violence or p a i n, I’ve got a coming of age movie for you to define the rest of your semester with.

Sing Street

2016 | Ireland | Ambition A coming of age story for those of us who couldn’t imagine life without music, Sing Street offers an earnest, feel-good time without romanticising its setting either. What makes this movie work is that music is much more than just a means of escapism for our ragtag band growing up in the oppressive climate of Ireland in the 1980s. The common thread between each of the narratives, from boy meets girl to getting along with your siblings, is brilliant chemistry and a genuine empathy for everyone on screen.

Violence

The Florida Project

Pariah

Being six years old is a time for pure chaos – take a page from Moonee’s book who wakes up every day and chooses violence. Set just outside Disneyland, The Florida Project chronicles the everyday life of people living on the margins. Sean Baker does justice to this world and Moonee’s coming of age experience by choosing to highlight the totality of living under precarity. Precarity is all Moonee knows and despite the innate tragedy of her situation, there’s an infectious zest for life that makes this movie special.

A decade of American coming of age movies later, Pariah may seem familiar but it holds its own amongst its contemporaries as an intimately told story about a queer, black woman written and directed by a queer, black woman. Alike is impossible not to root for as she gradually becomes more confident and refuses to compromise who she is. Dee Rees elevates the story by fleshing out Alike’s parents and taking an empathetic lens without condoning them either. Pariah is unapologetic in what it has to say and its message still holds power in 2021.

2017 | U.S.A. | Curiosity

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2011 | U.S.A. | Desire

Take Care of my Cat

House of Hummingbird

2001 | South Korea | Friends

2018 | South Korea | Yearning

This is a hidden gem from 2001 that is way, way too real. No one really prepares you for the challenges of maintaining friendships after high school. This is the growing pain Jeong Jae-Eun examines through a group of girls who are each their own main character. With capitalism continuing to spin its wheels and offer empty promises to young people, Take Care... has only grown more relevant. Turns out not much has changed from the days of texting on brick phones.

Important note: there’s not that much cat in this movie and rest assured, no harm comes its way either.

Worth watching solely for Kim Sae-byuk’s performance as the warm, laid-back teacher everyone deserved when they were growing up, House of Hummingbird offers a slice of that awkward chapter in our lives we call being 14. Nothing seems to last during this time where problems, people and crushes come and go. Here to comfort and guide our young protagonist, Eun-hee, is her Chinese teacher who is the film’s voice of reassurance. Although she wasn’t as present in the story as I had hoped, she leaves a deep impression on both us and the characters. This is a slow, understated watch best enjoyed on a rainy day that will have you reaching out to your inner-child.

Pain | Questions

Yi Yi

2000 | Taiwan | Questions The scope of this movie extends past coming of age into all stages of life but I couldn’t resist including it here because it speaks to the theme of this issue so well while also being a modern masterpiece. Yi Yi is a family drama that’s interested in what happens during the quiet moments before and after our big life events, whether it’s a family wedding or starting a relationship. I saw it over lockdown last year and I can tell it’s the type of story that won’t ever stop resonating with me. (If you have trouble tracking it down I might throw an informal screening at the office because I’m due for a rewatch tbh!)

All About Lily Chou-Chou 2001 | Japan | Pain

If you also can’t imagine your life without music but need an excuse to take the rest of the week off, you’ve come to the right place.

Pain, despair, rock bottom, the whole gang’s here and it’s done in the dreamiest way possible with a lush soundtrack and even lusher cinematography. Much like Take Care of My Cat, the growing pains in this story are still fresh. Its take on growing up with the internet feels more developed and modern than most coming of age stories coming out today with its focus on bullying and fandom. Lily ChouChou may be a fictional musician, but what she represents is very much real.

P.S. Read a content warning before you watch.

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Losing my Religion

By Alana McConnell (she/her), illustrated by Kwok Yi Lee (he/him)

Alana reflects on her ever-changing relationship with religion, and wrestles with the weighty questions which inevitably arise.

My genealogy for as far back as I know is filled with Christians. It’s all I ever knew for a significant period of my life, permeating the fabric of who I was. My grandparents on my mother's side were missionaries who set up camp in the Amazon rainforest, feeling as if it were their duty to spread the word of God to those who were just going about their own business. They had good intentions of course. My grandmother was a nurse and my grandfather was a mechanic, so they used their practical abilities and gifts to help those around them in the process. My mother spent her formative years flying between Brazil and Scotland, living close to the edge of poverty, where her parents solely relied on donations from members of the congregation in Scotland. I’ve listened to many stories of what life was like back then for my mother, often involving the wide gap in wealth and class between my mother’s parents and my father’s parents. What they did have in common though, was religion.

My dad’s parents lived in Paisley, Scotland, in a two storey brick house with a manicured lawn on a quiet street. They were loyal members of Harper Memorial Church, and it’s no surprise that my parents met at a youth group social event when they were in their early teens. From there, my parents decided to move to Vancouver and start a life. As well as being a pastor of a Baptist church, my dad studied theology at Regent College. So many of my earliest memories involve church. When you are the daughter of a pastor you spend much of your time inside those walls.

I became Christian at the ripe age of four, boldly committing my life to God and accepting that Jesus died on the cross to wash away our sins. It was a source

of comfort and security for me, and it made so much sense to my little under-developed brain. When I asked my mother about heaven, I was given the freedom to imagine a far away place up in the sky, where there is no pain and suffering, instead a huge feast featuring olives and my kitten Jojo frolicking in the grass. I knew I was going to heaven, and I knew that everyone I loved was also going to be there too. That could have been it for me, done and dusted, my worldview wrapped up in a nice little bow. But as I grew up so did the questioning, doubt and anxiety inside of me.

Church hallways were my free reign – I stole sugar cubes from the tea and coffee tray, and learned Bible verses off by heart in Sunday school. I loved singing worship songs, being an unnamed shepherd in the yearly nativity play and feeling like a little VIP pastor's daughter. It was blissful.

Christianity helped me develop deep sensitivity and a heart for those who were suffering. Vancouver has a huge homeless population and it broke me to see people sleeping rough on the streets. I befriended Angus, a homeless man who hung around the church.

One day when I was around 7 I chatted with Angus at the back alley behind the church alone. I didn’t understand why my parents were so panicked when they couldn’t find me. I didn’t know about the potential danger of human beings. I didn’t know humans were capable of doing bad things because I was so innocent to the world around me, as a child should be. When I saw homeless people I couldn’t stop crying, I wanted so badly to help them, and my mother humoured me by helping me make turkey sandwiches one Thanksgiving and handing them out to anyone who wanted one.

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Religion answers those hugely overwhelming questions, the ones which most of us don’t want to engage with.

I had a little notebook and I wrote down every homeless person I saw so I could pray for them, and every night before I went to sleep I got out the book and read off my list.

It’s not uncommon for someone to be raised in a certain religion and then as they enter adolescence to question their once strongly held beliefs and ideas about the world. Religion answers those hugely overwhelming questions, the ones which most of us don’t want to engage with.

Why are we here, what happens when we die, what is our purpose, how to make sense of suffering. Religion gives people a sense of security, meaning and faith. In regions where there is high poverty, illness and violence, religion skyrockets. In countries that highlight liberal individualism, religion is declining.

It makes sense, because if your life is filled with struggle, turning to a religion that explains that struggle and gives you a higher power to put your energy into can bring you comfort and peace.

When I was around the age of 13 or 14 things started to change around my views on religion. My parents enrolled my sister and me at a highly sought after Christian school which just had two openings pop up. I expected it to be a kind and accepting school with a welcoming and supporting community.

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What I received was the ugly side of Christianity. I remember one morning our teacher played us a video comparing abortion to the holocaust, and because I had heard nothing challenging that view I began to believe it temporarily. The girls at school weren’t allowed to wear bikinis to the pool, or singlets on mufti day and the older girls had to wear ankle length school skirts. So many girls had promise rings, the purity culture was suffocating.

My doubt felt like this huge big secret I was carrying inside of me, though for all I knew it could have been within many of those in the congregation but no one was voicing it.

Individualism was not allowed, there was a very narrow shape that you could fit into that was accepted. I only had one close friend and due to the nature of our tight-knit friendship in a hostile environment, rumours started that we were gay, only creating more distance and judgement from the students and teachers alike. I had a boy once spit on me and another boy refuse to share his food because I was a “lesbian”. I was shocked by this environment, and the feeling of social rejection was incredibly difficult for me to cope with as a new teenager who was already grappling with issues of self-esteem and trying to find a place in the world.

stories about miracles and healings, and I just felt disconnected from it all.

My doubt felt like this huge big secret I was carrying inside of me, though for all I knew it could have been within many of those in the congregation but no one was voicing it. When it was time for the altar call, a tradition in many churches for those who wish to make a spiritual commitment to God are invited to come up to the front and often be prayed for, I freaked out. It seemed like so many people were overcome by the power of the holy spirit, unable to contain their emotional responses, shaking, crying, even speaking in tongues. Why didn’t I

Alongside my less than pleasant

feel any of this? Was there something

experience at the Christian school, I

wrong with me? Or was it an Emperor's

found myself going deeper and deeper

New Clothes scenario, where lots of

into my head at church. I kept hearing

people had doubts within them but no

about the holy spirit, the power of prayer,

one was voicing it? The answer always

had to be God. I was told that it was okay to have doubts, to stray from the Lord and to go off the path, but you always had to go back to God. I lost my religion when I lost my innocence in the world. It came at a time when I reached adulthood and my family structure fell apart, and I experienced loss of faith in the world and myself.

I couldn’t make sense of suffering, of

Without a religious structure to fall back on, and with my sometimes excruciating sensitivity, I oftentimes feel overwhelmed by all the suffering in the world.

death, illness, disease, depression and pain. It felt so much closer to me than it ever did before. They were far off concepts in childhood but eventually I came face to face with them. Without

I hope there is something better after this life, there has to be. And not just for those who are “saved” and “converted”.

a religious structure to fall back on,

God probably won’t come down from

and with my sometimes excruciating

heaven with a band of angels and speak

sensitivity, I oftentimes feel overwhelmed

to me personally confirming his existence

by all the suffering in the world. I look for

(also, why is God a man?1). I will never

answers to explain it, and ask if there was

get a definite answer about these

a God, why would all these awful things

massive existential questions. It would

happen? Like progressive nerve disease,

feel very strange if I did. The practice

like massacres, like cancer. Like a child

of religion is undeniably appealing; it

being born into this world and only

creates connection, comfort and can

surviving a day. My heart breaks for the

bring you inner peace. Who doesn’t want

world in so many ways, the thought of

all of that? But with my ever-questioning

the planet breaking down, human beings

mind I struggle to imagine myself finding

dying of heat, fire, drought and floods.

a religion that I can 100% believe in and

If you can’t make sense of the world’s

get behind. Of course, I wish I could go

suffering and you are so highly attuned

back to my childhood certainty, but right

to it, it can break you, to the point where

now all I can really do is keep wrestling

you don’t want to exist in the world

with my own beliefs and understanding

anymore. I’ve said to people before that

of the world. 

1 That is a question which demands a whole new article!

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Coming of Age in the Anthropocene

By Lucy Wormald (she/her) It is winter here in Auckland. My room is frosty in the mornings. Rain comes down in droves. You can wear T-shirts some days, on others I need a hot water bottle under my jersey.

The light glares through overcast sky.

Winds blow through, rustling the bones of the tōtara and the bare horse chestnut.

The balance of things feels normal, familiar; sheltered. No red skies, no disquieting heat, no tremors beneath my feet acting as harbinger.

But in my news feed, or more pertinently, in the Northern Hemisphere, a different story is unfolding. Siberia, usually home to the coldest winters outside of Antarctica, hits temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius and is ablaze with wildfire.

Two weeks ago, more than 17 centimeters of rain fell over western Germany in the space of two days – double the expected rainfall for the whole of July. Rivers burst their banks and swept away entire villages.

Over 180 people died and hundreds are missing.

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This space is a difficult one to exist in.

It is liminal, carved out by an understanding of the climate crisis but one not yet affected by it.

In Madagascar the worst drought in 40 years is pushing 400,000 people into famine.

In June, a mountain village in British Colombia briefly became the hottest place on earth hitting 49.6 degrees Celsius before bursting into a wildfire that destroyed 90% of its buildings.

New York and London, untouchable in our tight sense of civilisation and climate change, saw subway systems surged by several inches of rain, forcing commuters to wade through waist-deep water.

And these are just the opening chapters of the 2021 summer.

I, as many of you, have come of age in the waiting room of climate change devastation. I have grown in the gentle heat of the Anthropocene, basting in the

slow knowledge and vague concern that our planet, and by extension, humanity, is going to suffer greatly due to global warming.

I have grown up taught, in high school and university, and now by the media (a belated and sheepish education), of the climate crisis we have spawned. We understand the future is bleak with climate break-down and extinction, candle-lit only by the hope of conservation and technology. We have also been taught this crisis is impending – a shadow in the doorway, a dark swell on the horizon, a prophecy.

This space is a difficult one to exist in. It is liminal, carved out by an understanding of the climate crisis but one not yet affected by it. It is anxious and unchartered, full of unknowing. But also fertile with possibility.

And what to do with this abstract presence of the future? How can it be that it is both the hand on the small of our back, propelling us forward and also the lasso that bridles the situation we find ourselves in? As the spheres of imagining this future and its reality orbit ever closer together, I think about how we conceptualise what is to come.

We are taught the only possible way to improve our future is through our science and our technologies. We maintain that our biggest need is hard science, that carbon reduction and ecological breakdown are our most pressing concerns. The track we are on may only be switched by human innovation, by technology, by conservation.

And yes, it is crucial we reduce our industrial imprint and restore the morethan-human spaces we have damaged.

But these initiatives mostly stem from a narrow self-serving space structured by capitalism. Solutions to our future are patchwork. They restore land or impose resource sanctions where such measures have been negotiated and permitted with mind to income and production.

Technology to decrease carbon, counteract waste, protect species and habitats may be introduced as long as they operate within the bounds of sustaining our comfortable lives. Our society can curb its hunger in bite-size pieces – protecting some forests, sacrificing some conveniences, limiting some practices. We imagine solutions in our future only to the extent that they allow us to maintain our lifestyles.

We imagine solutions in our future only to the extent that they allow us to maintain our lifestyles.

Within this blinkered domain, I again and again come up against the limits of my imagination. My capacity to comprehend the future is bound by both the society I exist in and the liminal space I occupy in the unfolding crisis. How difficult it is to look directly into the gaze of the climate crisis and dream a future other than that which is presented to us.

Many say it is naïve to consider we can ever do anything other, or more, than what we are striving for currently. I’m inclined to think that what is naïve is the belief that we could never do anything other than this; thinking that it is enough to permit solutions only to the extent that they maintain the status quo.

The world is not on default settings. The world is the way it is because it has been shaped that way. And it can be reshaped.

Put bare the forces that shape the way we see things and perhaps we can step outside of them. We may broaden our imaginations to envisage and create a future beyond the edges of what we know is projected for us.

May we learn to see and create beyond the limits of what we imagine. 

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Brought to you by AUT Library and AUTSA, illustrated by Kwok Yi Lee (he/him)

For more information check out autsa.org.nz/how-not-to-cheat-at-uni

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PUZZLES

3

1 5 1

7

7

7 8

5

4

7

2 4

8

7

2 1

9

4

5

7 1 6

2 3 5 8

8 4

7 6

8

5 1

3

9

6

2 3

7 8 9

6 8

GROWING

KOKAKO

MATURE

NAM

LICENCE

DREAM

SOLUTION CHURCH

LILY CHOU CHOU

TRANSITION

FLORIDA

ANTHROPOCENE

NEW

COMMUNITY

CAT

PAIN

FUTURE

KINA

HUMMINGBIRD

1

5

9 7

ALANA

1 7

6 7 2

6 3 5

5 4 8

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2

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9 6

4 5 2

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8 5 4

6 7 1

4 6

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3 9 8

7

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H o ro s

By Daria Carrothers (she/her)

Leo (Jul 23 - Aug 22)

Scorpio (Oct 24 to Nov 21)

The sun is shining on you, happy solar return Leo! You will be reminded that anything is possible, and there is no shame in dreaming

Reflecting on yourself you may not be able to see the whole picture, or you might see something you don’t like. Your shadow self will show itself over this period, but it is important not to shy away. Trusting all parts is the true definition of self confidence; lean into why you think these aspects are negative and you will gain more control when your shadow side comes out to play.

big. By remaining open to your intuition, new opportunities will become apparent to you.

The door will be there, even if you’re not quite ready to open it.

Tarot Pull: The Hierophant

Tarot Pull: Ace of Wands

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Remaining open

Tarot Pull: Judgement in reverse

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Self acceptance

Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22)

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

With all the hard work you’ve been putting in, Virgo, you are beginning to see the fruits of your labour. Although life may seem to be coming easy at the moment, losing sight of your willpower could result in your goals being temporarily derailed. Maintain force, but enjoy the rewards coming your way.

Sagittarius, you are coming into a time of reflection. Ultimately, you are looking for a more authentic expression of yourself.

Looking at where you spend your time helps highlight things of importance. Cutting back as much as possible on draining aspects of your life will help to ground you in your sense of self. By zooming out and looking at where you are putting your energy, it gives you clues to the bigger picture.

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Holding onto willpower

Tarot Pull: Page of Swords

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Self expression

Tarot Pull: Death in reverse

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Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 23)

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

An understanding of what is and isn’t important will once again be achieved.

Something that has been consuming your time and energy will begin to fall away. Make sure you let it. Your community surroundings will be able to support you and offer advice helping smooth the indecisiveness surrounding this loss.

An important lesson for you, Capricorn, is knowing you can hand over responsibility when holding onto instances that are creating unnecessary burden. Being responsible helps provide a sense of control, when they bleed into interpersonal relationships blurred boundaries set in. If you release this situation sooner rather than later the inevitable destruction will be minimal.

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Letting go

Tarot Pull: Tower

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Releasing responsibilities

copes Tarot Pull: Two of Wands

Tarot Pull: Hanged Man in reverse

Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)

Taurus (Apr 20 - May 20)

You are a visionary, Aquarius, but leaving this energy bottled up means it bursts out in undesirable places. Transforming your vision

A new opportunity will present itself, hitting a crossroads between your past and future.

Choosing to follow the unknown towards

and ambition into plans and action will be extremely helpful in this period. Prioritise what is important to you at this moment and start your plan of action thoroughly. Do not act before you know every step on the path.

your future alignment won’t be easy, but it will be fruitful. Look to the past for a sense of guidance, but don’t linger too long.

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Channeling your energy

Tarot Pull: Ace of Pentacles

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Facing shadows of the past

Pisces (Feb 19 - Mar 20)

Gemini (May 21 - Jun 20)

A situation that has been developing over the past few weeks has left you feeling like you’re being torn in two opposing directions.

Sometimes moving forward requires two steps, and sacrifice must be made to reinstate equilibrium. Remember there is never any wrong decision, just altered paths. Turning inwards will give you deep comfort in navigating this situation.

There’s nothing wrong with having others confirm some already known facts about yourself, but you have come a bit too dependent on gaining your sense of self from others lately. Know that you are at the tail end, and will come out of this period with greater understanding of how deeply others' impressions imprint on you.

What growing pain are you going through

Tarot Pull: The Emperor in reverse

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Self realisation

this month?: Facing opposing choices

Tarot Pull: Seven of Pentacles

Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 19)

Cancer (Jun 21 -Jul 22)

Now is the time to invest some hard work into whatever projects have been put on the backburner. If you put your gift of immense drive into your passions, Aries, you will see rewards starting to appear rapidly. There is a lot to life outside of personal productivity, however, life right now is in a period of flow for you. Utilise that.

Exiting your season you are recharged, Cancer. There is a renewed desire to utilise your empathic abilities to foster new connections. Now is the perfect time to put yourself out there and network with people outside your inner, intermediate and even distant circle. By coming out of your shell you are able to build on your sense of security.

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Getting back on track

Tarot Pull: Strength

What growing pain are you going through this month?: Reaching into unfamiliar territories

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