International Women’s Day
CPL Christine Bourke (left), PTE Megan Knowles, PTE Kayla Joyce and PTE Jemma Merton all 3CSR
After carefully
watching the others,
Claudia fi gured out
which pad went where
and was ready to go.
“Eventually, I got to the
skating rink, and pulled
myself around the
boards... I didn’t know
how to skate,” she said.
It didn’t matter. She
played the whole
season, and, by the end
of it, she could skate.
“I didn’t realise then
the impact of Mum’s
actions, or her words,
which basically were:
‘If you want to have a go,
then you can have a go’.
“She removed any
sort of perception that
as a girl, I couldn’t
play, or even be the
next Wayne Gretzky.”
Claudia said it was
a powerful message
for a child to receive.
“Basically, she removed
from me, the fear of
failure,” Claudia said.
“Have a go, if you
don’t make it, well
at least you tried.
MAJ Jeremy White HQ 1Bde NZDF (left), CO 3CER LTCOL Jen Harris, LTCOL Hamish Gibbon NZDF
PTE Wendy Langston (left), CPL Joanne Lamberts, CPL Nicole Rose and LCPL Rebecca Stephen all 10FSB
50 | APRIL 2017