15 Year 9 students attended the Waikato Young Leaders' Day which was held at the end of last term at Waikato University.

This program was based on the following themes:

• Knowing who you are - knowing yourself, your strengths and how sensational you are.

• Knowing what your passions/interests are

• Getting to know and connecting with people in new places and spaces.

These are some of the highlights of our day. (written by some Year 9 participants.) First we were spoken to by some guest speakers who were all leaders in their own right. Two we admired were Nathan Harris, an ex-rugby player and Keslie Lovell, a member of the armed defenders.

Nathan played for 10 years in the Bay Of Plenty Steamers, The Chiefs, Māori All Blacks, and the All Blacks. He was forced to retire this year due to many injuries. His key messages were, Always do what you want, Don’t listen to negative people, and Always fight for what you want.

Kelsie Lovell always dreamed of being a police officer but struggled in maths.  After 3 long attempts at passing maths tests she finally made her dream come true.  She then decided to join the armed offenders squad, who are an elite group of police officers dealing with highly dangerous people. Kelsie went through 2 years of training doing the unimaginable and she made it in on her first attempt. Kelsie showed us all that the hard work you put in always pays off. We then joined up with Mt Maunganui College and did a lot of leadership activities.

We would like to say a big thank you to Katikati Lions for funding this day for us.

We are so grateful we got to go to this fun and exciting day.

Thank you!