In the first week of the school holidays, I took part in a programme for young Year 11, 12, and 13 women from around the country called Innovative Young Minds.

We participated in zoom meetings daily where we had workshops from some amazing women within the STEM field. We then completed an innovation challenge in groups with an experienced mentor to solve an environmental issue using renewable energy. My group came up with R.O.S.E a robot that absorbs oil spills in the ocean using solar and tidal energy. Overall, I had an interesting and educational experience with some amazing young women and mentors that I will not forget.

GirlBoss Edge Healthcare Edition:

In the last 10 days of the holidays, I, along with around 180 other young women from around New Zealand, participated in a GirlBoss Edge Healthcare Programme for a second time. We completed modules that taught us all about how we can present ourselves in ways that will help us with networking, job interviews, etc. We also were lucky enough to have the opportunity to hear from some amazingly inspirational health professionals like Dr. Hinemoa Elder and Dr. Justin Ki-Hyun Sung about advice for future careers in medicine and ask them questions about things like study techniques and med-school admissions. We also were tasked with a CV-worthy healthcare challenge. For my challenge, I chose to work on the issue of the lack of diversity within the health sector. I created a website called 'HealthYOU' which showcases the biographies of some amazing healthcare professionals all from different careers, backgrounds, and ethnicities with the hopes of helping young aspiring healthcare workers to see themselves in the careers that they want to pursue. Overall, participating in the GirlBoss Healthcare workshop for a second time was an amazing experience that I urge you to take up if you get the chance.