Greenpark School House Captains and Outstanding Citizens were selected to attend the ‘2011 national Young Leaders Day.

It was an early start on Monday 16th May. We had to be up early, dressed in our best school uniform and be at school by 7:20am ready to catch the bus to Rotorua. As we got closer to Rotorua I found a bag of lollies that my mum had packed for me, everyone was very excited to see and taste these.

The bus pulled into the Rotorua Even Centre and lots of other students from Primary and Intermediate schools from around the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions were lining up at the big doors wanting to get the best seats close to the stage. There was a mass rush when the doors opened with everyone trying to get as close to the celebrities as they could.

Our hosts for the day were Charlie from ‘What Now’ and Alice Gallagher. They greeted us with flashing lights, loud music and video clips on a large screen. The camera man scanned the audience to capture everybody on the large screen. Crowds of students danced, made silly faces and loud noises to attract his attention. We were all feeling really excited about the day now.

Our speckers for the day were Nick Tuitasi, Julia Bloore, Dave Atkinson, Pat Buckley and Jamie Fitzgerald. My favourite speaker was Jamie Fitzgerald. Jamie holds a world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean (5000km) in a tiny row boat in 2003 and in 2007 he become the first ever Kiwi to reach South Pole unsupported with fellow adventurer. He shared with us his achievements experiences, goals, and personal highs and lows. It certainly showed us anything is achievable if you TRY.

One of the many themes of the day was TRY. Trust, Respect, and finally You. We were encouraged to remember this acronym when setting personal goals. It was a really fun day and I learnt heaps of good ideas about challenging myself to reach my personal goals and becoming a strong leader.

Mikalya Hall, Year 6, Greenpark School