Gabe Adams and Olivia Simmonds received their Dale Carnegie Youth Programme graduation certificates alongside students from 11 schools across the Western Bay of Plenty last Thursday.

Here is what Olivia had to say about this programme:

"How to win friends and influence people. This was the theme of a three day Dale Carnegie Skills for Success leadership course, we received a Acorn Foundation scholarship to participate in this last term. The skills we learnt came at the perfect time to prepare us for life at both university and in the workplace. We participated alongside 21 other Year 13 students from secondary schools in the Bay of Plenty and were plummeted head first into a jam packed three day intensive leadership course built around Dale Carnegie's five drivers of success: building greater self-confidence, enhancing communication skills, developing people skills, building leadership capability, and increasing capacity to manage worry and stress. This course showed us how and why great leaders respond in adverse situations and taught us how to find confidence to become a better leader and overall person. We both feel more confident to speak up and contribute to group discussions while also being able to maintain interesting and flowing conversations with our peers - important life skills to obtain for leaving school. As well as learning valuable skills we also formed strong friendships among the group. The course was a great confidence builder and our advice to students offered the opportunity in future years is make the most of it and don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone."