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TYI Ambassador Reece Sheridan caught up with Matthew Price , chairperson of “ Leaders on Our Level ” to find out how a group of TY students managed to organise an event of this magnitude , the importance of youth leadership and the meaning of Transition Year .
In a world of constant change it ’ s important to reflect on where we were , are and hope to be . Transition Year is renowned for teaching skills that allow young people to convert their hopes and dreams to tangible realities . This is known as vision and is a major characteristic of great leaders .
Leaders On Our Level is an annual event organised by TY students of Terenure College and features many notable speakers , inspiring almost 2000 students from every corner of the country .
Amongst the speakers were leaders from all walks of life , including homelessness campaigner Fr . Peter McVerry , the first blind paraplegic to reach the South Pole Mark Pollock , BTYSE Winner 2016 Shane Curran , CEO of AIB
Bernard Byrne and fashion designer Sonia Lennon .
RS - So first things first ; I ' d like to thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to talk to TY Ireland about your role as Chairperson of this exciting event .
MP - Thanks for having me .
RS - Let ’ s begin by introducing yourself : Who you are , what you do and why you do it .
MP - I ' m Matthew Price , I ' m a Transition Year student in Terenure College , I ' m sixteen years old and I ' m this year ' s chairman of the " Leader ' s On Our Level conference ". I got involved with the conference because I heard last year ' s chairman talking about it in our school and it sounded like a great project that I wanted to be involved with in any way I could . I was lucky enough to be picked as the chairman so I ' ve done my best to organise this conference
TY UPDATE MARCH 2017
Leaders
and as you saw I ' ve given the opening address .
RS - Amazing . So could you explain how you achieved this prestigious position and more importantly how you ' ve managed it .
MP - There was an interview process in the school for anyone who was interested in being chairman . I have experience in organising stuff such as this and public speaking experience so that helped , but I suppose you ' d have to ask my teacher why she picked me ! In terms of managing it I ' ve just given it socks with all the hours I ' ve put in with staying back after school and long nights . Running up to the event it was great having a team of fifty committed people all working on social media , audio visual and other people on the stage with me so it was definitely a shared job . It was great having such hardworking people around me .
RS - Given that this is a leadership conference and you being one of the many leaders involved , what leaders inspire you and why ?
MP - Leaders who inspire me