A bus load of Year 13 students had the opportunity to attend the Wellington event in the National Young Leaders Day series today. National Young Leaders Days are annual leadership events held in major cities around New Zealand. Since 2001, over 110,000 students have been empowered to become leaders. The days aim to develop student leadership and be both inspirational and practical. Today’s young people are the future leaders of our nation – equip them with the skills and values to lead well. There were many fantastic messages for our young men.
The day was introduced by Zane Scarborough, a representative of the Parenting Place. Zane introduced some key concepts around leadership, particularly the idea that there are two key components: leading yourself and leading others. His message was to think about who you are becoming, who you want to be, and how you will get there.
The first presenter for the day was boxing coach Billy Graham. His enthusiastic presentation focused on the message of never giving up. He stressed “make the most of every opportunity you’ve got – don’t wait for things to happen, go out and make them happen.” Alongside this he encouraged the young people present to never stop asking for help to achieve the things they want to. Billy gave countless examples of times he has asked for help and received it.
The next speaker was James Beck from the Attitude group. Attitude provide presentations in schools throughout New Zealand tied to young people’s wellbeing. James has worked in this role for a number of years and has literally presented to tens of thousands of young New Zealanders. His message was about making good choices. James explained that often in life we have to choose between the easy thing and the hard thing, and often the hard thing is the right thing. He encouraged the audience to make good choices, especially when under pressure from their peers, so that they can be proud of the people they are becoming. James finished with a challenge: to think about what sort of person do you want to become and to make a plan for how you are going to develop your character.
Brylee Mills was involved in a car crash at the age of six which resulted in the amputation of her left arm above the elbow. Despite the obvious physical challenges this provides she has excelled and was accepted to study dance at Sydney’s prestigious Brent Street Performing Arts Studio for 2015. She has graduated from Brent Street and is now continuing her career as a professional dancer along with teaching and running a photography project based on strength and power. Brylee’s message was that the setbacks and challenges in your life do not have to define who you are or what you become. Your responses to those setbacks and challenges are the telling factor. Like Billy Graham, Brylee also encouraged the audience to seek support in reaching their goals.
TV personality Petra Bagust had a key message about ‘giving back’. She stressed that it is not necessary to wait until we’ve ‘made it’ before we can give back, as this could come in many different forms – time, small financial donations or helping in the community for example. Petra stressed that the person in control of your life is you. You might not be able to control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you respond.
Chris Jupp from World Vision had a similar message about giving back. Chris stressed that life shouldn’t be “all about me” and that there are many opportunities to help other people. He believes passionately that everyone has the opportunity to make a difference in the world around them, and that the best way to do this is to help other people. Completing the 40 Hour Famine while he was in Year 13 was the kick start for Chris as he realised that small contributions from many people do indeed make a big difference. Chris encouraged the audience to do something to make a difference. This could be through supporting organisations such as World Vision, or it could be simply making the effort to spend time with and talk to socially isolated peers. Many acts can make a huge difference in people’s lives, yet cost us nothing to perform. Chris finished by issuing a challenge – “put your hand up and make a difference.”
