Mitchell Barrett, you may have seen him strolling around school with shoulders broad and chest high. You may have seen him sitting on the stage at assembly in his leadership role as Joyce kaitiaki. But, most of you would not have seen him in the learning support building working with Miss Heather and her team.

Mitchell Barrett is a year 13 student at St Thomas of Canterbury College and has a learning disability called dyslexia. In the interview I did about Mitchel's dyslexia I asked him how dyslexia affected him in his everyday life. His response was that it affects everything because you do not realize how much you read throughout the day; so it's very frustrating. A fact that Mitchell told me was 50 minutes of learning for dyslexic people is the same as a full day of work for someone without it. That is why it is super helpful to have a reader writer to speed the process up.

He also talked about why he wanted to come to Saint Thomas and he said that “it just felt like the best fit” because he lived close and heard about the dyslexic program that is run at St Thomas, so he thought it was “a no brainier”.

Mitchell and his family grew up in Gisborne, but he was born in Auckland where he lived there for two years before moving to Gisborne. Mitchell’s family enjoyed their time in Gisborne, but they were surrounded by a lot of gang violence and drug abuse. They decided as a family that in 2014 they were going to move to Christchurch to get away from the negativity. Mitchell has lived in Christchurch ever since.

When Mitchel didn’t know he had dyslexia at a young age his dad just thought he was “being difficult” and got really annoyed when he failed his reading and writing tests because he thought he was “just being naughty”. So, when they found out he had dyslexia it was a big shock to his dad but also a sign of relief because it explained why he had been failing.

Since reading and writing stories has always been a challenge for Mitchell, he turned to photography to tell his stories. This is using pictures and film instead of pen and paper which are his enemy... namely dyslexia. From there he moved into making short films with his family and friends at a young age. Over time he has picked up skills in editing, so now he makes videos for the school and recently made a music videos for a local musician. It's awesome to see that he has taken it from a hobby to a job. Mitchell said he loves to see people's emotions and thoughts on the videos and that drives him to make more.

If you see Mitchell walking around the school don’t be scared to say hi because he always has time for a chat. You also need to remember his name because you might see it on billboards all around the world advertising his new film that he directed one day. So now you know a little bit about Mitchell Barrett's life as our 2021 Joyce house leader and year 13 leaver; and maybe a little more about how to overcome a learning difficulty to express yourself.

In Mitchell’s words: “Work hard, put yourself out there and find ways that work for you. Dyslexia is a gift, not a disability – a gift of creativity and a way to look at life differently.”

By Joel Proudfoot