Sitting in the auditorium waiting with the rest of year 13
group for the announcement of the 2013 head boy and girl
would have to be one of the most nerve wracking experiences of our schooling to date. We are so thankful to and
appreciative of our peers for voting for us and giving us the
opportunity to not only represent the school, but to also grow
as individuals. Being the heads of school teaches you to be
very organised, as you need to juggle your schoolwork as
well as any other commitments you may have. The school
diaries became a necessary tool for us, as what a busy year
it has been! We kicked the year off with Year 13 camp,
which lived up to its reputation as being a highlight of Year
13 where everyone came together and performed the haka
and numerous skits with great enthusiasm.
The competition was intense within houses. Our first chance to represent
the school was the Leaders’ Breakfast at EIT, where all the other heads
of schools within Hawkes Bay met each other and listened to Hawkes
Bay leaders, such as Chris Tremain and Craig Foss, and guest speaker
Bonnie Muirhead, a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, share their experiences
and what they thought it meant to be a leader. This was a great opportunity for us to get to know other students from various schools who
were in the same position as us. A highlight of the year was our first
outing as a Forum group to Wellington, which was composed of the victorious Kauri house leaders, Malin and Thomas, the Miro house leaders,
Chelsea and Ryan, Rata house leaders Molly and Matthew and Tainui
house leaders, Shavon and Ben, as well as Student Rep, Luke. We
stayed the night at the NOMADS backpackers, then attended the Halogen National Youth Leaders’ Day, an event for all students with leadership positions in the mid and lower North Island. Ryan and Ben made
an impressive cooked breakfast for us all, although the lack of cooking
oil made dishes a bit of a chore! The speakers at the Leaders’ Day
were very inspiring, especially Cam Calkoen. When Cam Calkoen was
born, doctors prophesised for him a life filled with wheelchairs,
dependence and restrictions, as he was born with Cerebral Palsy.
Through hard-work, dedication, and the power of dreaming big, Cam
went on to represent New Zealand on the world stage, competing in international events for both 100 and 200 metre sprints, and being recognised as one of the top ten athletes in the world for his discipline.
We found his talk very inspiring and it emphasised the lack of true limitations we face when trying to
achieve our goals. Overall we found the day to be very worthwhile, and ended it with a visit to parliament,
where we were able see to the leaders of New Zealand in action, even seeing the Prime Minister’s office.
A low, of course, was the usual common room drama, where the artistr