Kia ora koutou,

Today, I will be sharing with you all, some advice about overcoming challenges you may face throughout your time at high school. Because like many other things, school can be hard. It can be hard fitting in with the right people and it can be hard to not compare yourself to the people around you. So, being able to remind yourself to focus on yourself and your own goals is a key factor on overcoming these challenges.

I remember in Year 9 I was so fixated on the social element of school, I only worried about making friends and how I was perceived by others. Because of this, I constantly felt that if I was not endorsed by the people around me I was simply not good enough. It wasn't until later on that I realised that this way of thinking was not fair on me, as someone going through such a critical time in life. I decided that I am who I am and didn't need to seek validation from others in order to feel worthy as this does not benefit me in any way and the only validation I really needed was my own. So my message to you all is to never manipulate your own personality to cater to other people. Focus on the things that will have a positive impact on you in the future as the importance of the social aspect will fade in importance as you grow and mature.

Another challenge you may face in school is comparing your achievements to the achievements of the people around you, causing you to feel constantly stressed and anxious about your own abilities. Throughout your time at school, it is easy to misjudge and misinterpret the things that are most valuable to you personally.

Often, I get swept up in the construct of working hard or being the best. I forget to work towards my own goals rather than the goals of the people around me. It is important to remember that all of our goals are different. Your goal may be passing an internal or even the action of showing up to school today. Whatever it may be, remember to commend yourself on achieving each one of your goals even if it is not up to the same standard as someone else's. We are all on a different path with different abilities, therefore comparing these things does not elevate ourselves, instead it can belittle our self worth, self confidence and self respect. To sum up, do your own thing. Pave your own path and prioritise the things that are important by stepping out and looking on from another perspective. Don't feel guilty about giving your mind and body a rest and understand that your own goals are going to be different than everyone else's, therefore they are incomparable.

To conclude I will use a quote from one of the most powerful women, Michelle Obama. “Always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody says distract you from your own goals”.

Ella