Today I went to an IEC school- connected to an actual high school. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences. Here, refugees and asylum seekers who have not received an education in English from age 13 to 18 can attend.

 It was an hour drive to the school. When we arrived- 5 of us and the deputy principal (might I add we're already on holiday!)- we were greeted by the head of the school. We entered the demountable office and were introduced to everyone there.

We then headed over to the library where we were told everything about the school such as who was accepted, the people who attended, etc. They served us mini muffins, mini quiches and water bottles for recess.

Afterwards we walked over to one of the demountable classrooms and a class performed to us. 5 girls did the cup song with one of them singing, a boy sung 'Story of my Life' and then the whole class did a dance to Beyonce. It was so amazing and everyone was so nice!

The bell rang for the actual recess so all the students went off while we walked back to the library. In the library we met 6 students from Cambodia (3 girls and 3 boys- might I add one of the boys was pretty cute ;) haha) and 2 sisters from Thailand. We were able to ask them questions for about 5 minutes before we had to move to their quad.

In the quad, all the students a part of the IEC high school were lined up in their English classes. We were acknowledged during this leaving ceremony for one of the teachers. All the students turned around and looked at us. There was a lot of chatter, waves and even a wolf whistle haha. There was this one gorgeous boy I can't get over. He was standing at the back of his line, secluded from everyone else- he basically shone. He was perfectly tanned with brown hair and when he turned to look at us, he had the bluest eyes. His arms were the width of a childs, his hair slightly shaved at the back. He lifted an arm up to wave at us. The students began moving to form an aisle where an array of beautiful roses were handed out to several students to give to the leaving teacher as she walked through the aisle. As we waited for this to begin, one of the boys started talking to me, asking me questions about my henna, where I was from, etc. 

Not long after everyone had left, we went back to the library to eat a bit more and have a bathroom break. When we came back, a public speaking finals competition was held. We listened to 10 amazing speakers who spoke of poverty, racism and asylum seekers. This was such a touching part of the day as you could tell they all spoke from the heart, where most of them didn't even use palm cards. I sat next to one of the students in the top class. Her name was Kim (I'll talk about her later)

After the public speaking, we went to a science class. Here, we were put into seperate groups to perform two experiments. I was placed in a group of 3 boys. They were all really noisy, funny and trying to leave class. The boy on the left had freckles scattered all over his face. He was quiet and the sweetest person- wanting to actually do the experiment. The boy in the middle, was perfect. He reminded me so much of Jordi from San Cisco but Pakistani looking. He seemed really angry and restless during the beginning but began to chill down a bit. The boy on the right was the only one who properly spoke to me. I can't remember his name, but he was from Pakistan and had been there about 6 months. When we stood up to leave, I was putting my seat back and the boy on the right took the chair for me and I thought that was really sweet. 

We headed over to another class, where the younger students were. Two lovely girls, Negin and another girl presented some work they did on the dingo and koala from when they had visited the Wildlife park. The lunch bell rang so we left. 

As we were walking back to another classroom for lunch, the boy who had spoken to me in the quad came up to me and started walking along with me talking about my henna again. There were people playing hand ball and he grabbed my arm for me to play but I had to go with everyone else so I said bye. 

For lunch we were in a classroom once again. The top class and a few other students were in there organising our lunch. We had pizza, soft drinks, cake and chocolate but I only took 2 slices of pizza. I sat next to Kim who I had sat next to in the public speaking competition. She told me she was 17 and had come from Vietnam about 7 months ago. Her mum was still in Vietnam and she was really home sick. Her English was really good and she was so nice. Her friend came and sat down on my other side. His name was Hasan. He had spoken in the public speaking competition- his speech was honest to God, amazing. Better than anything I could have done. He had a lovely face and personality. He started up our numerous conversations. He was 17 from Pakistan. I was astonished about how great his English was, and I told him. He told me he had learnt a bit of English in Pakistan through the UN meetings he had done over there. Next year he, and the rest of the class, would be moving to the actual high school next door. Though he was 17, he would be placed in year 11 next year- the same as myself. 

We eventually and sadly wrapped everything up, taking a group photo and thanking the head, by giving her some chocolates and a card. I took a few photos with Kim and gave her my e-mail (not sure if she did it right because I was in such a rush and everyone had left and I typed it weird oh gosh). As I ran out of the classroom, I heard someone call out to me and I turned my head. One of the three boys who I had said was cute from the library before's friend called out, pointing to the guy saying 'My friend likes you!' I smiled and ran off. I hadn't processed what he had said yet. 

But once I did, I literally wanted to hug him. 

We grabbed our bags from the office and hugged the head lady and headed back to the mini bus and drove back to school.

Today was honestly a life changing day. I wanted to stay there and get to know every single one of those students. 

I had such an amazing day and I don't think my recount did it justice.

I hope you all enjoyed reading that and well done if you made it to the end! haha

Lots of Love,

Tara

xxx