Sport Leaders Breakfast

On Friday 24 September three of our students attended the OSSSA Sports Leaders Breakfast: Paige van Gorp, Jade Whitson and Nuala O’Malley-King. The guest speaker was Tarryn-Ann Fahey. Each of the students was asked to write a short article about what they got out of the presentation and their articles explain what an amazing person Tarry-Ann is. If you want to experience further about her story, go to TV on Demand, Seven Sharp, Tarry-Ann Fahey.

Listening to Tarryn-Ann’s story was motivational to say the least. There were two main ideas that I took away from her presentation telling the story of her life so far. Number one being where life takes you is most likely where you are supposed to be. Tarryn-Ann talked about her wish to become a nurse. Everything she did in her high school years was setting her up for a career in nursing including subjects and where she worked. Her diagnosis meant she had to give up her dream of becoming a nurse. Seeing her face light up when talking about her kids she teaches outdoor education to at high school was amazing. She found an amazing career that she loves even though that career wasn’t her first choice. Life got in the way of her plans, and she ran with it. It made me realise that even though I may have a plan for what I want to be doing after high school, whatever happens I will end up where I’m supposed to be. The second idea I took away from the leader’s breakfast and Tarryn-Ann’s talk was to be happy with what you have accomplished. Goals are important to have but reaching a goal then moving onto the next one then the next one is not the ‘overall purpose of life’. If you are constantly looking into the future, you aren't going to appreciate the present. Taking a minute to look back on the great things you have accomplished in life is a good way to realise how far you have come. Jade Whitson

Tarryn-Ann’s story is truly inspiring. Rather than letting her diagnosis that changed her life when she was only 18 set her back, she used it as motivation to be as active as possible until she no longer can. She lost feeling in her legs and decided to run marathons. She lost her hearing and became trilingual. Her resentment for people that have fully functioning bodies and don’t stay active has inspired me to be more active and try new things because you never know what could happen in the future. After leaving school Tarryn was going to become a nurse and this dream came to an end 7 months into her studies, however, she has accomplished so much including becoming an outdoor education teacher, running marathons, and even qualifying for the Tokyo Paralympics. This taught me that the career path I chose to take next year may not be what my future holds and that wherever I end up in life is where I am supposed to be. Life is a journey that has many ups and downs, but you have to make the best of situations that set you back. Nuala O’Malley-King

Taryn is truly one incredible woman, who has already lived an extraordinary life after high school. Even with the number of barriers she has faced like discovering she has an autoimmune disease that will only get progressively worse, she is also deaf but still proceeds with life as if nothing has changed in her life. This all happened after she left high school. Her talk she gave to sports leaders around all high schools in Dunedin at the Otago Polytech was amazing. Because even with numerous people telling her things like “You can’t do this”, “Maybe just take a step back” and even being told to get out of a classroom because she was deaf. Didn’t stop her from reaching many goals in her life. Taryn also was selected for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in 400m but couldn't go due to her illness. Her determination and passion for life has led me to conclude that in any given situation you can’t give up or lose faith but get up and try again. Seems simple, but the barriers she has overcome is unbelievable. Paige van Gorp

We want to hear from you:

If you are doing amazing things within your sport and reaching awesome goals, we want to hear about this so that we can share your achievements. This can be sports that is run at O.G.H.S. or sport that you take part in outside of school.

Sports Uniforms

It is now time to search through your rooms and bring back to school any outstanding OGHS Sports uniforms, tracksuits, OGHS bags etc.