Kia ora ra tatou katoa, I tenei ra i timata matou i te tenei huihuinga a kura ma te mihi whakatau, I mahi matou i tenei ki te whakaatu atu kaore matou he kura ahurei kotahi noa iho, he kura tenei kiki ana ki nga momo ahurei rereke mai i ia wahanga o te ao nei. Engari inaianei maku e huri atu ki te reo pakeha.

Good day school. Today I started off a little different to the usual last word we’ve grown accustomed to. I did it not to boast, but rather to show you all that I am embracing my own culture, much like we did earlier, with the mihi whakatau for our guests. This was a form of Maori welcoming, a part of Maori culture that we’ve all witnessed and embraced today.

However, today I will be keeping with the term theme of bravery and courage. Showing the ability to do something that frightens you or strength in the face of pain and grief. This can be different for many people, it could range from public speaking, to speaking your mind or to personal intimidations.

Boys I knew that my home was back in Palmerston North, I had never moved away from there and I didn’t think I ever would. That was before the decision I made to come down here to OBs. For me personally this was a scary time of my life but also a time full of opportunities. I had never been to Dunedin more than once and to think I was going to live out the rest of my high schooling years down here was scary enough for me. Moving from a school of 75 students that was 100% correspondents work to a large traditional boys school frightened me. I didn’t know anyone other than Sione, many of may know him, the big panda look alike that walks around school, that usually spends most of his periods at physio in the Shand. I still remember our first weekend at the Hostel, we spent the weekend barricaded and we never left our room for anything other than meals.

But eventually I opened up, I learnt to step out of my comfort zone and this came with so many other opportunities, giving me the chance to accomplish things that I never thought I would be able to do. I was able to get past my shyness and do public speaking, rather than following I was able to take a leadership role in the school. But it wasn’t easy, it took courage, bravery and time. This showed me that everyone has potential to do things that they never thought they would be able to do.Courage and bravery are just doors to an unlimited number of opportunities. Now I put forward a challenge to all of you that have never once done something that has made you feel uncomfortable, get out there, life is full of challenges. Yes at first you may feel that it's not for you, you might feel awkward but at the end of it is success.

As per tradition I will finish with a quote by Eric Thomas, “In order to succeed we must be willing at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we will become.” No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa.