Year 10 Prefect: Alyssa Landrebe

Kia ora girls, I’m Alyssa Landrebe, your Year 10 prefect for this year. The last four and a half years at Queen's has been an experience and half. I have met so many different people and have made so many amazing memories here that I'm so grateful for. Now I don't want this to be a speech on me giving you guys advice on how you need to manage your time better in school or how you should be taking up as many opportunities as possible although these ideas are great, I thought that I would give you some insight on what the last five years at high school has been like for me.

In Year 9 I told everyone that I only came to school to ‘eat my lunch’, however, that was until I found my love for learning. Don't ever let the people around you tell you that you aren't smart enough to achieve something because anything you set your mind to, you can achieve it. I grew up in school with people being extra cautious around me and stereotyping my abilities because I have some learning obstacles, however, within Queen's I found a passion for certain subjects and I have used these interests to my advantage.  Although I have worked very hard to achieve my own personal goals I couldn't have done this without the people surrounding me.

Throughout my time at Queen's High School, I have always been reminded of the Queen's way which if you didn't know already is ‘respect for people, place and learning’. Respect for people was really important to learn over the years, with maturing and understanding how society works, I have learnt to really gain respect for people around me. First of all I respect you girls sitting in front of me, you are the people who I spend most of my week with, Whether I have had something to do with you through football, futsal, touch, the amazing social basketball team, house competitions, music or even in our education, I am grateful for these moments and I have met some incredible friends who make me belly laugh everyday.

Not only am I grateful for the students of Queen's but also the teachers included. There have been a couple of teachers that have made a significant impact on how I see the world and for that I really do want to thank the teachers who have taken their time to teach me. From Ms Burden’s French poems, to Mrs Spence showing me her dolls, to Mr Sherborne’s daily Dad jokes, to a Friday Kahoot with Ms Dodds. My life in Queen's has been entertaining to say the least.

Reflecting back on my years at Queen's, there has definitely been some highlights, from in Year 9 showing up to school with my high ponytail and blazer buttons done up, to then Year 10 camp when I confidently called out in front of majority of the year group that there are no volcanoes in Dunedin, now don't worry guys I did later on pick up geography so I could educate myself. Then speeding through my first year of NCEA that led me to Year 12 where I went on my first ever ski trip experience and embarrassingly thought I could do the big slope after doing the magic carpet for a couple of hours (learnt my lesson). To then my last year, Year 13. This year has definitely been a busy one, however, Year 13 has really made me appreciate my time being at high school.

So anyway enough about me, overall what I want you girls to take out of this speech is really make the most of your time in high school because before you know it will be over, I know school can have some bad days but trust me those days are not the days that you will remember once you leave high school. So look at the positives and do really make the most of those good days because once you leave you’ll miss it. Thank you.