National Young Leaders Day
The 2022 House Captains attended the National Young Leaders Day in Dunedin on Tuesday. They listened to many inspirational speakers who focused on resilience and shared with them the challenges they had to overcome while on their journey.
Georgia Lines is a songwriter. She started singing when she was 12 years old and that's when she knew that singing was her passion, something she loved to do every single day. Georgia describes herself as determined as she wrote a song and dropped it last year in march lockdown. At NYLD, Georgia Lines was talking about her music career and how she dealt with hate. When Georgia first got hate she was quite sad and wanted to give up; but then her husband told her it was just someone over the other side of the screen, all that really mattered was her family and friends. The thing that inspired me the most was what Georgia Lines said: “Don’t worry about little things and focus on the things that matter.”
By Gemma Aker
Georgia Latu was the third speaker that presented at the National Young Leaders Day conference. She is a fifteen-year-old girl that owns a national business from Dunedin called Potiki Poi. It is a business that will sell Aotearoa original poi. She also runs a business that is a hip-hop and poi dance school. Our two favorite things that she said were to create healthy habits to stay healthy and remember that if you do the mahi you will get the rewards.
By James Soal and Quinn Selfe
Sam Johnson is the chief executive of the student volunteer army, which began after the Christchurch earthquake in 2010. He was a former young New Zealander of the year and lately, won the high tech award for impact for good with the SVA for their work during Covid-19. Sam Johnson has built a career doing service to others. One of the main messages we got from Sam was you can't do everything yourself so ask others around you for help and a hand and if you don't know just ask.
By Koloi Kaufana
William Pike's story is truly inspiring, showing key aspects of resilience. He lost his leg while climbing Mt Ruapehu due to an unexpected eruption. His friend managed to get help and get him to the hospital. He made 3 goals for himself: walk again, teach again and climb Mt Ruapehu and he did so, even after he faced challenge after challenge. One quote he got a lot out of is “always put whanau first.” We loved how he never gave up doing what he loves.
By Manawa McGhie and Kate Farmer.
Riley Hathaway is best known as one of the founders of Young Ocean Explorers. She was first inspired by her dad when instead of bringing home seafood from a day at the beach he would bring home footage. Young Ocean Explorers is an educational platform used to teach young people about the importance of caring for the ocean. Riley talked about how you should face your fears and that you should start thinking about the positives about your fears instead of turning the other way on them.
By Okeroa Jamieson