MEET THE TEAM: 5 minutes with Ana
Kia ora kou tou, my name is Ana-Terinita Marks, but you can call me Ana for short. It is so beautiful to meet you all! My pronouns are she/her and I’m a 21 years young girl who was born and raised in sunny Hawkes Bay before making the leap down to windy Wellington for study.
Tell us about yourself and how you found yourself part of Neighbourhood
I am a soft person with many contradicting qualities. Firmly an introvert but I thrive off of genuine human connection, I am strongly confident in my fragility, a sleepy lady who loves her bed as much as she loves a good hike. You could easily compare me to a butterfly that isn’t really sure she should have the warmth, safety, and home she had in her chrysalis. I have a fond interest in effective, emotive communication between humans and try to emit as much love as I can muster into the things I do. Currently, you can find me, either oversleeping in bed or hustling at university towards a Bachelor’s in Creativity at WelTec. 5 and a half years ago I found Madeline’s old blog called Lupus and Luna, which I believe I found through my own hobby of amateur blogging. I guess you could say the rest is history, as ever since then I have followed Madeline’s beautiful energy and mahi all the way to my involvement with Neighbourhood NZ today. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Describe yourself in three words:
Considerate, whimsical, and creative.
Do you have any significant goals or projects for 2022?
To read more novels than I did last year. In 2021 I read 13 books, and so far this year I have read 9. Not going too bad there.
What is a cause/issue/movement that you feel passionately about?
First and foremost, caring for Papatūānuku Mother Earth. After studying architecture for a couple of years, I am very worried about her. We don’t do nearly enough to care, love, and preserve the precious world that we have!!
Talking, I fear for what mobile devices and social media are doing to society's ability to communicate ā kanohi, in person, and to build and maintain community. Say hello to your neighbours!
I am sad because I read an article recently that said the colour black is dominating society, clothing, advertising, interior spaces, etc. Colours are not only going out of style but are being neglected. This makes me so sad! I have a total of 4 black items in my wardrobe and gravitate to colours in all aspects of life, personally and professionally as I study design. Pretty please choose the coloured thing, I don’t want to live in a colourless world.
Who or what has influenced you the most?
My whanau, they are collectively, my family, best friends, idols, teachers, number 1 fans, advisors, landlords, emergency contacts, chefs, and much more. I could not do life without any of them.
If someone I love is down, I cheer them up by…
Give them a big fat HUG! One that squeezes out all of the air in your lungs, and reassure them that nothing is a problem. Everything is solvable.
Somewhere that you’ve never been to in Aotearoa that you’d like to visit?
It is definitely on my bucket list to get all the way down south and visit Stewart Island. A teeny tiny part of me thinks I can’t call myself an authentic kiwi if I haven’t visited all the islands of our beautiful country. I’ve visited the Chatham Islands so Stewart Island is next on my list.
Something that relaxes me when I’m feeling stressed is..
Reading different novels. The act of reading itself is extremely calming for me, just allowing my brain/thought process to fixate on one thing for an hour or so is blissful. I also love totally disappearing into another universe too, where the worry or stress I have doesn’t even exist! I would highly recommend any book written by Becky Chambers.
The last thought that kept you awake at night was…
Honestly, more often than not I’m kept up by the thought ‘I probably shouldn’t have had that coffee after 12pm. Yeah I definitely shouldn’t of had that coffee, oops’.
Do you have any strange and completely irrational fears?
Oh boy, does anyone not? I am not a fan of slugs at all. Also deadlines, not in a professional sense more in knowing a specific date something will end.
Favourite song on your playlist right now?
‘Day Job’ by Soft Plastics. I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough, the lyrics are relatable, the tune catchy and the guitar shreds. I recently saw them live and now I can’t get it out of my head. “It’s not my dream job, it’s just my day job, helps me pay my student loan off”.
