National Young Leaders Day; a day of inspiration, growth mindset and successful guest speakers. What an invaluable event!

16 Pupil Councillors were selected to attend the 2018 National Young Leaders Day. There were multiple schools invited including, Russley, Christ the King, Avonhead, Yaldhurst Model, West Rolleston, Timaru Intermediate and many others. 

The objectives of National Young Leaders Day are:

• Inspiration
• Connection
• Student empowerment
• Promoting positivity
• Motivation
• Education

We were privileged to hear amazing inspirational speakers share their success stories: Amanda Wilson, Sala, Jono Naylor, Riley Hathaway, William Wairua, and Vince Harder spoke to us about the meaning of "Me Whakāro Rangatira", which translates to "Think Like A Leader".

We interviewed a few people who went to NYLD, and this is what they said:

Mia: Amanda Wilson was my favourite because she said, Be brave enough to be different. She was very motivational and she helped me understand a lot about leadership.

Jack: Jono Naylor was the best speaker in my opinion because he was very inspiring, and he helped me with my leadership skill/qualities. Quotes that I liked from Jono Naylor was HOPE, Humility, Others focused, Play to your strengths, Extend yourself.

Kate: My favorite speaker was Riley Hathaway. I liked her because she was really passionate about what she does, and she really cares about the ocean. She showed me leadership by how she really took charge about what happened. She saw what was going on, and she changed it for the better. I took away from this, that even though you might be scared of something, (as Riley was scared of the ocean) you can still try your hardest to change something that isn’t quite right. 

Charlotte: William Wairua and Sala (from Survivor NZ S1). I liked these people because they were very inspirational and entertaining. The quotes that boosted my leadership skills were, boost the maral, which means lift the energy in the room, and another of my favorites was, you can’t be good at the start, but if you don’t start, you can’t be good. 

Ava: The person that inspired me most was Sala. He inspired me by what he said was true about leadership, don’t be afraid to be yourself. I really liked how his story about his childhood was very different to other people. When he did something wrong, he would believe in his faith in Jesus. My favourite quote from Sala was, why wait for tomorrow to make a change when you can make a change today.

Written by Olivia and Katy (Y8s)