National Young Leaders Day
On Monday 17th March RZ, SM, KC and Ms Barclay rubbed the sleep out of their eyes and headed off on the 7:30 am bus to the Sydney Entertainment Centre. There they joined 8,000 other young leaders with their teachers from around NSW and the ACT to learn a little more about successful leadership.
Entertained and inspired by some wonderful speakers including Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, Catriona Rowntree from Getaway and James Castrission and Justin Jones who recently became the first people to kayak from Australia to New Zealand our prefects learnt many valuable lessons about leadership which they share with you here.
Report by RZ
Today I attended the national Young Leaders Day at the Sydney Entertainment centre. I learned about leadership that I will use to make our world a better place. Some of the things that I learned were:
- You have to lead yourself
- You have to know your own style and the way you lead
- You have to use good judgement
We listened to some great speakers like the police commissioner of NSW who said that being yourself is the first principle of leadership. Catriona Rowntree from Getaway taught us that it is important to always believe in yourself. We listened to many other interesting speakers like Deborah Abela, a children’s author and James and Justin who kayaked from Australia to New Zealand. It was a fun and interesting day.
Report by SM
Hi, I am SM and I’m going to tell you a little bit about my experience at Leadership Day.
My Favourite Moments
Well of course one of my favourite moments was when we had just arrived at the Sydney Entertainment centre and we realized there were 8,000 kids in there, we had just taken our seats and the host played “So You Think You Can Dance” theme music and everyone went hysterical, including me. Another one was when the two kayakers named Justin and James came out and told their inspiring story. I also liked Catriona Rowntree who came out and said that she hated Math and wasn’t very good at it either but she said she loved English and was good at it, which is me to a tee. And last, but not least was when the host made us stand up and instead of stretching he made us dance and we were cracking up laughing.
My Favourite Speaker
Well it was hard to choose so I picked two. They are Catriona Rowntree and the two kayakers, James and Justin. I liked James and Justin because of their inspiring story. I still can’t believe that it took 4 years to plan for their adventure from Australia to New Zealand. And Catriona is my inspiration as she told us how when someone says negative things she ignores them, something I can’t do very well. And the fact that she goes overseas for her job is awesome.
What I Learnt
From the day I learnt that leadership = influence but it doesn’t = position. If you put your mind to it you can achieve anything and that planning is important before you make changes. I know that you need to plan for the unexpected, be yourself and be careful who you listen to. Push what is unique about your character, be present in the moment, feel the fear and DO IT ANYWAY! Persistence will lead to victory and we can rise above all obstacles.
My Thoughts
All in all I think it was a great day and I know for a fact it was a lot of fun.
Report by KC
Hi, my name is KC and I’m a prefect at S.G.P.S. On Monday the 17th I went to National Young Leaders Day to learn about leadership. I had lots of fun with Ms Barclay, SM and RK.
The best part of the day was when Ms Barclay bought me, RK and SM some McDonalds and when we could ask questions at the end of the talks that people did.
My favourite people were James and Justin. They rode in a kayak from Australia to New Zealand. They did 5.8 million strokes and it took them 62 days!
If I had to judge the National Young Leaders Day I would give it a 9/10. I thought it was a really good day and I think if you were asked to go, then go, it is the best thing ever!
