Kaile

“I’m in my second year of biology.

I’m very into climate activism. So, kind of learning about all of biology and then also having in the back of my mind, oh like, there might not be all this biology around. It’s quite scary. And it’s also de-motivating and motivating at the same time.

I’ve kind of been mulling over whether I should even do next year, or if I should, like, drop out and just do climate activism. Because I feel like that’s like a much more urgent thing to be doing. 

So I’m part of a group called Restore Passenger Rail. Basically, our goals are to restore passenger rail, and have free public transport. How we do that, we create disruption, like we protest. 

It takes up a lot of my time and mental energy.  And it feels really good to actually be doing something and to be part of a group that has a goal. And then at the same time, doing my biology courses, and then seeing my lecturers, being like, ‘oh, yeah, climate change is real. And it’s happening.’ But you know, they’re not really doing that much about it.  

I just saw a poster around Uni and went to a talk. And then now I give the talks. I don’t like public speaking at all, but I feel like just being with the group has just made me more confident. Like, I sat on the road, in Wellington and I got arrested. And I went to jail. And it was a horrible experience.  But, it was like, wow, I can do this. I can do everything. Anything! You know?

I’m just getting my head around how the world works. And how do I fit; what can I do to… make a world like I want to live in it? If that makes sense.

I think I will finish next year. I’ve already done two years and I might as well do the last one. I do think studying biology has improved my mental health as well, like, I just notice so much more. I can look at this tree and I’m like, oh, I know how it works. And it’s so cool.

And then being part of Restore Passenger Rail, I’m just in a community where I feel like I truly belong. Just being around like-minded people is really nice.”

– Kaile