During the holidays there is nothing quite like spending time with your family. Spending time with your family consequently means going home and for senior Shannon Waititi that meant that she would fly across the world to her “home” in New Zealand.

This past December and January, Waititi left behind her schoolwork, friends, and team to go back home for Christmas.   Waititi had not been back to New Zealand in twelve years, so her family decided that it was time for them to take the journey across the world.  Although Waititi had a blast, this month was one of the most important months of her life so far.  During this month, she had to keep up her grades, prepare for and take exams, and apply to college. Luckily Waititi finished most of her schoolwork before she left; however, when it comes to applying to college, that is a whole different story.

“Applying to college while I was gone was insane, and it was so difficult when something went wrong and I wasn’t able to go ask Terry for help or advice.  It was overall a very stressful process,” Waititi said.

Teachers and counselors knew from the very start that this would be an incredibly stressful time for Waititi; however, they understood that sometimes you just have to do things for/with your family.  Emily Weingart-Farrell, Aspen High School counselor, has seen many students leave school for long periods of time; however, she has not faced one that included applying to college from over seas.

“I would never recommend for Waititi to leave school this time of her senior year, but I understand why she left.  I also feel like our staff wants every student to do well so we were able to help Waititi out and hopefully she is where she needs to be,” Weingart said.

The back and forth communications between colleges, the school, and Waititi truly show how everyone put in a great effort to allow for everything to work out.

“I think that we worked everything out and I don’t believe that her chances of getting into college will be limited.  She also definitely has a great college essay idea right now!” Weingart said.

Not only did Waititi miss school work and applying for college, but she also missed a very important month of hockey.  Waititi has played on the local club hockey team, the Aspen Leafs, since she was in sixth grade.  She has also played varsity soccer the last couple of years.  She may say that she loved hanging out on the beach while in New Zealand, but there is no doubt about it that she didn’t miss her hockey practices.

“I recently had my senior night for hockey and seniors Jennifer, Blake, Abby, Maddy and myself couldn’t stop crying,” Waititi said.

Not only has her hockey career changed her life, but it has also changed her teammates’ lives.  Losing Shannon definitely shook up the team at first, but luckily they were able to make the best of it.  As soon as Shannon returned, she was back with nothing less then when she left.  She certainly did not surprise the team by scoring a few goals in her first games back and lighting up the team.

“Aside from contributing to our success, Waititi is always quick to encourage and inspire all of the players on our team,” sophomore Kelsey Fitzgerald said.

Even though Waititi missed out on a white Christmas, hockey games, and help applying to colleges, she enjoyed every minute she was in New Zealand.  This does not mean that she would recommend for any other student to leave the country for that long, it just means that her trip was worth while.  Waititi is proving to AHS that sometimes you just have to do something for your family and celebrate your heritage.  If this doesn’t get people excited to enjoy their heritage then I don’t know what will!