High five to that.
For Gwen Stefani it’s her marriage. In a recent interview with Marie Claire, the singer described her 10-year union to partner Gavin Rossdale as a “miracle” and her biggest accomplishment so far.
She told the magazine: “Because it’s hard, everyone knows it’s hard. (Marriage) is something that I always wanted to do successfully….It was a dream of mine. I like the official-ness and the family-ness of it all, having the same name and making decisions together.”
[Do they have the same name though? Is she Gwen Rossdale in her private life or could he be Gavin Stefani?]
Let’s remember that these quotes are from the woman who’s been nominated for five Grammys throughout her career.
And that’s what makes this so fascinating. That the thing Gwen Stefani notes as her biggest achievement – her marriage – is the thing many people already have. And the things she doesn’t list – the songs, the accolades, the FAMOUS – are the things so many people devote their lives to trying to get.
For a lot of people the question of accomplishments would automatically induce a list of achievements that should go “straight to the pool room.” There’s that first-place medal from a basketball championship, the year 12 exam results or the first-class honours from their university degree. A photo from the summit of Everest.
For other people it’s probably their children – or their children’s achievements. It’s giving birth. Maybe it’s your job. Or something they did at your job. Maybe it’s the feeling of getting out of bed in the morning – every morning – and the excitement about what lies ahead. Maybe it’s your house. Maybe it’s your home reno. Maybe it’s the chocolate cake you baked and didn’t burn. So. What is it for you?
Leave a comment – we’re keen to know your biggest accomplishment no matter how big or small.
Comments
79 Comments so far
Without a doubt my greatest achievement was donating my eggs. I helped a couple to fall pregnant using my eggs and his sperm and there is now an absolutely gorgeous little boy in the world. I think this is my greatest achievement because it is something personal I did for a stranger and it is heart-warming to know that I have done something so big for someone, something that means the world to them, and seeing photos of him as he grows makes my heart swell with pride.
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My greatest achievement is easy to remember. It was continuing to go to work each working day for three years and bearing with myself whilst I seethed at the very presence of a person who’s existance pressed every button I had. Even her false teeth p**sed me off.
funny now, but all consuming at the time.
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Mine is finally getting the job I wanted and never thought I could because I didn’t have a degree but was able to get it based on my skills. A total change of how I was thinking brought me so much and achieving that happiness in my work caused a snowball effect of all the great things that have happened since (like meeting the love of my life).
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I think learning to love motherhood is probably my greatest achievement. For some women, being a mum and loving it is the easiest thing in the world. For me, it was the biggest shock and is the hardest thing I have ever done. After five years, I finally feel as though I’m getting the hang of it, I now think of myself as a mum and I actually enjoy it most of the time. I am proud of my achievement
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I’ve done lots of things that might count as achievements – graduated university, etc. But really, the biggest one for me in the last few years was finally shifting my mindset and beginning things I didn’t think I could physically do. Every week I still face those doubts (although they are getting smaller) and win, and I’m on my way to being really fit and healthy, accomplishing things I never believed I could.
I guess the other one is finishing the Inca Trail – that was pretty full-on!
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still waiting:(
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I hope this doesn’t sound mean, but maybe the issue is that you’re “waiting”. Don’t wait – do. Achievements are things that you dream about, strive for and achieve. Even if you’re just doing uni but haven’t graduated yet, you’re still achieving your goal. Stop waiting!! What is it you want to achieve?
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Wow, some of these accomplishments are just amazing – an incredible testament to people’s compassion and strength
I’d have to toss up between leaving home at 17 with a one way ticket and $50 and travelling Australia, or the work I’ve done over the last few years in domestic animal rescue. Neither seem important compared to what some others have done – but the travelling was a huge challenge and really shaped me as a person, and I know that my small accomplishment was the most important thing to happen in the individual lives of all the animals I have helped save :-/
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Nursing my mum through her terminal illness, at home, giving her the kind of death she deserved & wanted. Heartbreaking? Yes. Gut-wrenching? Yes. Harder than I ever imagined? Absolutely. But there is such a sense of peace that I could do this for my beloved mum & I’m so grateful I could do it. She gave me life, I gave her death.
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It’s great to see that Gwen chooses her marriage as her greatest achievement; it means that that’s the thing she has worked the hardest at. Anyone in a long, ‘successful’ relationship will tell you that marriage IS hard work, but it’s also the most rewarding.
I completely agree with Gwen, my marriage is my greatest achievement. Whilst I adore and do everything for my children, my marriage takes the most effort. I cook food for my kids, take them to after school sports, discos, play dates, sleepovers, doctors appointments etc etc etc, and yes that’s all work, but my marriage is different, it is work by choice.
For example I could choose to not be intimate with my husband because we both work different hours and hardly see each other, however my choice is to make the time, whether that means staying up late (very late some nights!) to see him, or getting woken in the middle of the night and not being cranky about it!
I could choose to create a fight about the dishes not being done when I get home, or I could just do them myself, and be glad they get done sometimes.
Marriage is hard work in every sense, but also the most rewarding, I get a best friend, and lover and a confidant all rolled up into one hairy package!
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I’m epileptic, and have been on medication since I was 7 (i’m now 22). It basically slows my whole body down- metabolism, I take a bit longer to learn new things, can’t concentrate for long periods of time, need a lot more sleep than most. However, I still managed to come first in year 12 in music 1, second in ancient history and I have just finished my Arts degree and am going back for a Masters next year! I guess that’s my biggest accomplishment, achieving such good results when I need to work that much harder.
The thing I’m most proud of right now is my last history essay I got back- I’d been getting in the 50s for this super hard subject, worked my guts out for the 50% big research paper and ended up getting 73! I was so happy with that, even though i’ve done better in other subjects, I guess because I worked harder on this than I had on anything.
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Completing a degree in an achievement I cherish greatly. Life gets in the way of study for many of us. Overcoming life’s challenges to focus on a career is rewarding.
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That’s really fantastic, well done! I thought I’d comment because right now I feel the exact opposite of that! I’m 2 months from finishing my 5th/final year of uni and for the past few years have often thought that study has really gotten in the way of life for me. I’m starting full-time work in Feb next year and seriously cannot wait to have weekends free and the immense pressure of uni and honours off my chest.
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My biggest achievement: definitely catching my first baby and doing all neonate resus and care on the little guy – in NEPAL. In my second ever birth. ON. MY. OWN. The biggest rush of my life – solidified my passion for fetal-maternal medicine! I use the experience to spur me onwards whenever I doubt myself, because I know one day I’ll get to be an OB/GYN
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Raising happy, healthy and well adjusted (touch wood) kids alone for the last 9 years. I seperated from their dad when they were 6 and 2 and its easily been the single biggest struggle and at the same time, joy of my life. Its been hard sacrificing my career and love life so that they thrive and flourish and I definately wish I had a supportive family around me to lean on but in saying that being a single parent has taught me so much about myself… I never knew how stong I was.
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I think mine would have to be having the courage to move to Sydney when I got into my dream university course despite not knowing ANYONE.
(3 years later, the move has been the best thing I ever did).
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I’m struggling to choose between finishing my PhD and fixing my relationship with my mother. The second one was harder and took longer….
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Pretty proud of grading to black belt in karate, mainly because I am not naturally athletic and it took a lot of plugging away to get there. But I ended up doing it well.
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Gwen Stefani is a real idol of mine (and I don’t idolise anything ordinarily) because of this exact attitude. She has always struck me as a chick with her head screwed on correctly. She gets it
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My biggest achievement?…Beating cancer at the age of 19!!!
Diagnosed at 18…had treatment, got the all-clear at 19!!!
(However, sadly, that all-clear only lasted 22 months…we found a recurrence 3 months ago, so hopefully my 2nd biggest achievement will soon be beating cancer for the 2nd time!!)
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Completing my university degree with a very good score even though I ended up hating it and at one point seriously thought I might fail everything.
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I think our biggest accomplishment to date (apart from our children) is the fact we are almost mortgage free. We married young, had low salaries but still managed to pay the 18% interest rates . Sold our first house at a loss. Our 2nd and current house was definitely the worst house in the street (it was all we could afford). We have worked hard and lived within our means and now in our mid-forties we will soon own it outright. Its no mansion but its in a safe suburb and its ours.
I think that in this day and age, its an achievement to be debt free.
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Congratulations!!! That is a HUGE achievement and i admire you – paying down a mortgage on an average income takes real sacrifice. Good for you and enjoy all that’s to come.
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I can also say that is my biggest achievment. Paying our mortagage off then saving and building our extension and now to be debt free is a massive achievment.
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My biggest accomplishment so far would be completing two Half ironman triathlons and my third will be next year. (For anyone wondering that is 1.9km swim, 90km ride and a 21km run). It’s not so much the actual race that is hard but the months of training and trying to fit in 15 – 20 hours of exercise per week and still keep the rest of your life held together.
Also, it is great finding out what your limits are. You get to a point of pain and exhaustion and you think surely your body will break down but it doesn’t. It just keeps on going. There is so much more strength and endurance there than you ever thought before you actually tested it.
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my biggest accomplishment is definitely getting clean and staying clean.
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Well done you ,
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My biggest achievement was opening my own hair and beauty salon at 22. Now at 23, I have 2 hair/beauty salons with 15 staff between the two. I even employ 2 males in there thirties! Whoa, what a year
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Wow, that is amazing!!
What’s your secret?
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haha, I actually said ‘Wow, that is amazing’ out loud and then read your post
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Wow! Congratulations, rosebud123! xx
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yay! thanks guys..
Im not a hairdresser or beautician so I really just manage people and pay the bills.
I guess my biggest secret would be
1. Hire people that are smarter and better than you. Especially hire people that are strong in areas where you aren’t. No one is great at everything, so people to fill your weak gaps helps!
2. Systems, systems, systems. Create rules and stick to them. This makes people have to be accountable without you hovering over them
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I have been married for 17 years and have been lucky enough to have one child so far (another one on the way). Definitely a great accomplishment but not one that has been hard fought as I love my husband and it is an honour to share my life with such a kind, funny and wonderful person.
I know people say their children are their greatest accomplishments – I am very, very proud of the beautiful boy my son is growing into but he is his own person so I don’t know if I can say it is an accomplishment as such.
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Being in a relationship with the same person for 25 years since we were 16 and raising two children. Yes during that time achieving university degrees, building a successful business and acquiring material possessions have been great but doesn’t compare to the commitment of a relationship and parenting.
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Funnily enough I was thinking along similiar lines on the weekend.
I completed the Blackmores half marathon and I cant begin to describe how good it felt to get that little medal. As children, we’re encouraged to challenge ourselves and yes, be competitive and somehow that slips away once we grow up and enter the workforce. Sure, there are successes at work but at least for me, that was different.
Doing the HM was a massive challenge and a huge commitment. I havent felt that satisifed in anything I’ve achieved in a long time.
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FINALLY overcoming my fear of rejection and trying to make it as a writer – sending in unsolicited pieces (including, ehem, to MM!) and starting a blog (cliche I know!). After nursing my husband through six months in hospital last year (which was a pretty big achievement in and of itself!) I decided life was too short not to take risks…I figure the rejections will never be as hard as the regrets would be!
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Breaking the cycle of abuse. Every other good thing in my life is a flow on from that
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Getting my pilot’s licence. Big challenge for a scaredy girl starting out. Flying solo the first time made me feel like I could do anything. The great feeling of freedom that you get flying out over the desert in western NSW. Sunset amoung the clouds at 6,000 feet.
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My most satisfying accomplishment was getting my drivers license on my 4th attempt – that was in 1996. Nothing has been more nerve racking or satisfying since
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I am sitting here watching my five year old and my three year old play quietly in two different corners of the lounge room, both talking to themselves and their toys and lost in their own little worlds.
They are by far and away my biggest accomplishment. Once upon a time I would have rolled my eyes to hear someone say that, but that was before I knew how hard it was to be a parent. My kids have fulfilled me – finally I have something that I am the best at, that no one else can do as well as I can. That’s not to say that I am perfect, far from it, but there are things that only I can give to my children. It is humbling, and amazing.
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5 of the harshest years battling infertility, including the evil friend IVF. Crippling and soul destroying miscarriages which almost did me in.
But I never gave up, not for 1 moment. And through the amazing gift of donor eggs, now have the sunniest, most gorgeous children ever to grace this earth. They are my heart and my soul. And I love them with every ounce of my being.
In amongst all that turmoil, my husband and I are still together which sadly is something you cannot say for every infertile couple.
Having children or rather having 2 successful pregnancies is my Everest, it is the hardest single thing I have ever done. And it is only my blind tenacity that got me there.
That is my single biggest achievement and I am eternally grateful that I am a mum. X
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Mine was working up the courage to give the stranger I met at the pub, who I’d been having some serious flirty eye contact with, my phone number. So completely out of character for me but I somehow just knew that I should do it. Thanks to that all my other great achievements (marriage, kids and a home) then followed…with that stranger.
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My biggest accomplishment has been becoming comfortable in my own skin and realising that whatever I earn, however many kids I do or don’t have, where I love, what I weigh etc etc etc actually matters very little.
I am who I am and I can do what I can to make life a little brighter for people I meet.
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Snap! Being contented with my life and comfortable with myself has been mine. x
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My dad (God rest his soul) lost his business when I was in year 9. When his business went down, we also lost a lot of things he’d worked for his whole working life. My mom is a full time house wife who’s never lifted a finger all her life. I then spent most of my teenage life living on a budget and struggling in between paying rent, tuition fee, and living day by day.
I guess my biggest achievement was to come out of that life, graduated with my engineering degree, started a career in telecommunication industry as a project manager, earned six figures income, then married my high school sweetheart – all before I was 26.
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Id say your mum did lift a finger as you say, if she looked after your family all day!
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Sorry Lou but that is not your place to say.
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Peeps used to line up for my autograph after buying my latest CD (it feels like I am speaking about someone else when I say that) but that doesn’t compare to my biggies : My two children, and surviving what it took to get them here, and staying Married for almost 7 years.
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I think Gwen is right: like her my biggest accomplishment is that I got married in 1976 and I am still married to the same person! This really is OUR accomplishment, but it especially meaningful to me as my parents had a dreadful marriage and then went on to have more disastrous marriages and relationships.
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Feeling like I am starting to find myself
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So happy for you, petal x
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Without question, it would be having a baby and breastfeeding him with ease, growing him into a strong and healthy and very happy little boy. I’m still blown away by what the human (female) body can do, and whilst I know a lot of women aren’t able to do one or either of these, even though they might want to, I’m pretty darn proud that I’ve been able to. Definitely the biggest accomplishment in my life so far!
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getting sober
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I ran 5kms in under 25mins last weekend. Really proud of that!
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Other than my law degree probably my biggest accomplishment is taking part in a charity fundraiser last year – we had to cycle over 400km through some bloody tough terrain and my partner and I raised nearly 14k – woo! That fundraising was seriously the toughest thing I have ever done. We didn’t get any big sponsors so it was all quiz nights, dinners (catered by us), lamington drives (baked by us), raffles etc. Totally worth it. I was never a very athletic person at school and don’t have any natural sporty skills so it means more to me to have completed the physical challenge as well than any academic stuff I did which always came a bit easier to me.
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Mine is conquering my crippling anxiety disorder I’ve had since…well…birth I guess.
I just worked through it, used a bit of CBT, and am now finally able to make a phone call to a stranger without going to pieces, buy a ticket at a train station, ask for a sandwich in a shop, mingle at a party, smile at people in the street….and the number one – speak publicly.
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That’s awesome.
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Glad you’ve found a way forward, Kathy! Best of luck x
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I’m proud of the way I handled myself as a mother after my daughter Georgie died. I walked through my grief and was still a really good mum to Ava.
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You should be very proud Bec
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You made me cry – a mothers biggest fear realized. Good on you for facing each day xxx
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Wow Bec! I am impressed with your strength.
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Great achievement. Also okay to fall apart after such a tragedy too!
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That’s beautiful. You should be very proud.
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Competing at the Olympics for me!
Although I have a feeling when I have children it will be that
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I don’t even have to think about this. It’s my children. Most of them are grown up and are independant, responsible adults with careers that make a difference to the lives of others. Despite the paralyzing worry, the poverty, the shortening of my life by probably decades and the sacrifices it has taken, I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of them, of course, but I’m proud that I was able to put my own desires and dreams aside to protect and nurture them into the people they are today.
Would I do it all again? Not for love or money!
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I actually laughed out loud at your comment! Love it!
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I am a regular commenter on here but I would rather not be able to be traced.
I am proud that I FINALLY got a job after being unemployed since the end of July and I didn’t give up!!
I found out this week that my ex boss has been sabotaging me and trying to ruin any attempts for me to get a job, I am proud that I did not confront her or try and make her pay for it.
I am proud that I have not bad mouthed the team that bullied me for at least a year at my previous job.
I am proud that I have not let the depression that I suffered for numerous years sneak back into my life, no matter how difficult things have been.
a BIG thank you to everyone on here who helped me not feel so alone..
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WOOOOOO!!!! I’m cheering for you from Adelaide!
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Congratulations!!! Well done for not giving up and also taking the high road when. Hope you enjoy your new job!
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I agree.
I had a ‘difficult’ boss once, but through out the entire time I didn’t bitch or moan about them.
After I had left the role (still at the same company), a colleague approached me to say what admiration she had for me, (as now her friend was working in my previous role – dealing with the same boss), and she couldn’t believe how I had put up with it all, and never once spoke unprofessionally about it.
You never get anywhere being the office bitch or gossip!
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Rathernotbeknown I think it is safe to say you kicked ass!
Congratulations on everything!
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wow, what a big question! really makes you reflect on your life. hard to pinpoint one achievement- i suppose number one on my list would be my kids- giving birth to 2 beautiful boys, and doing so with no pain relief, so i was pretty proud of myself for that. on the list also is getting a degree and living/travelling overseas for a few years. oh, and building that lego world racer car- i’ll give myself a big pat on the back for that one…
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Why would her last name be Bush if his last name is Rossdale?
My biggest accomplishment is finishing uni and starting work in my chosen career. Since my chosen career is media, it was a massive achievement for me to be picked up by a major Australian news network.
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True! He plays in the band Bush I think
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I think that might be a typo! We’ll fix! (Gavin’s band was Bush so someone has accidentally written that, I think!)
xxxx
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Ahh I thought I’d missed something!
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Ha ha ha! I thought the same thing! (about the name)
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Gavin’s surname is Rossdale
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