Oh-Five!

I had never put the railways to practical use before. As I boarded the train into the city for the first time in order to attend university, the Manic Street Preachers' A Design For Life playing pleasantly, anthemically, in my headphones, that was the first manifestation of the attributes of a year that was going to prove to be a very different one to those past indeed. I can still remember sitting rather nervously in my first official lecture -- Politics 107 New Zealand Politics with Raymond Miller, in a small library basement theatre that did not have enough seats for all of the students. Not knowing any people in the class yet, it was a decidedly lonely experience, albeit a bearable one. The awkwardness was subdued briefly as a representative of the university debating club accused Raymond of being about to expose us to socialist republican propaganda throughout the course.

The repeated train trips in and out of the city never grew loathsome at any point, despite the somewhat frequent delays. Taking a train is nothing like taking a bus. There is no manic acceleration and braking, no whiplash-inducing cornering and the vehicle doesn't continuously clip warning signs along the route of travel. People seem content to enjoy the peace and quiet provided by the more-than-adequate soundproofing. Not that I would usually be aware of their silence -- my music would be on, not too loud, but loud enough to mostly drown out the few environmental sounds. Compared to the agony of the bus commutes to high school over the past years especially, consistently taking the train has been a thoroughly enriching experience. It's not in many circumstances that one can be careening through the middle of suburbia and yet have the chance to have some quiet time to oneself. As an added bonus, one can be confident that one is doing the planet a favour by using clean mass transit.

My enthusiasm for progressive music, particularly progressive rock, has become an extremely important part of my life as of this year and provided the soundtrack throughout, and I am convinced that it is set to become a life-long passion. After a lull in musical interest that had lasted a few years, brought on by my disenchantment with the less-than-meagre artistic offerings of the popular music industry, it has been intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually refreshing to find art that I feel I can relate to in terms of how I tend to think and feel. Pink Floyd lead me to discover Yes, early Genesis, Radiohead, Mike Oldfield, and the bubble of my aural diet is still expanding. It was with indescribable contentment that I entered the world of Sigur Rós earlier this year and began to have virtually inarguably some of the most spiritually uplifting experiences that I have ever had. Progressive rock, to me, conveys such a sense of depth that I do not see as apparent in any other medium.

The political and sociological consciousness and understanding that I further accumulated throughout the year as a result of the great media, politics, sociology and anthropology classes that I took (as well as some of the bad ones) provided essential tools with which to comprehend the nature of the build-up to, and the aftermath of, the General Election -- probably the most hair-raising event of the year, so-to-speak. Like most people taking the same subjects as me, the results of this election were bound to be very important to me. It turned out that the ideological left got as best as they could have hoped for, considering the fact that the New Zealand public in general would appear to be becoming increasingly disenchanted with the Labour Party, and indeed with the opportunities to be represented by minor parties that are provided by the mixed member proportional system of parliamentary representation. In my opinion, Winston Peters has hardly been as disagreeable as was expected so far in his new role as foreign minister, despite the negative reflections provided by the media, rendering the longevity of the government as seeming somewhat more promising than it did in the beginning. Of course, it's great that Rodney Hide made it back into Parliament. In the end he is not so ideologically, nor characteristically, different to you and me, and he has genuine, good intentions. The tragic death of Rod Donald caused us to identify closer still with our noble politicians and united people of all ideologies in respectful, heartfelt grief. Let's make sure he is never forgotten. Likewise all those lives and livelihoods that were destroyed by the rampage of Hurricane Katrina; the sad inevitability that could so easily have been prevented with a bit more progressive thought and associated action.

It was way back in the second week of the first semester of university, when tutorials for the majority of subjects began, that I started to enter into the social environment of university and my eventful and wonderous year was truly rendered so. Through the people that I met in tutorials, I came to know the caring, supportive, beautiful people that I know as my friends now. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before to find so many good-natured people, all so tightly connected already, and yet so willing to welcome me into their circle with open arms. I had no idea just how socially cold my high school had been until I started university this year, which involved me taking on a distinctly new perception of humanity as I was at last exposed to people with whom I really do feel I have a lot in common, and by whom I feel I am genuinely liked. It has helped me learn a lot about myself and become the most comfortable with who I am that I have ever been in my life. I can't even begin to appropriately describe the value that I have found in true friends and warm smiles, but I would like to say thank you to everyone who has been there for me and included me in their lives throughout the year. Because you all really are what has made this year the best year of my life. The Year of Change and Progress.