On Thursday 30 July, a small group of selected Year 11 students had the privilege of attending the 2020 Pearce Young Leaders Forum at Holy Cross College. It was a forum for students interested in leadership opportunities, to meet together alongside two great and influential leaders from Western Australia.
Upon arrival we had photos with the other attending schools as well as organiser, Christian Porter (Federal Member of Parliament for Pearce, Attorney General and Leader of the House) and guest speaker, Justin Langer (Australian Cricket legend). Following this Ryan Shelton, Deputy Principal, Holy Cross College, who introduced Christian Porter and Justin Langer, greeted us. Both spoke about the challenges and rewards of leadership as well as anecdotal stories shared from both their careers and personal lives. They then commenced an interesting Q&A session that Mr Porter prefaced by saying no questions were off the table! Throughout the forum, they gave advice for future leaders, spoke from experience and inspired many of us. Mr Langer’s four top tips for young leaders were:
· Know what you stand for and what you won’t compromise on
· To achieve your dreams, write them down.
· Surround yourself with good people – friends, mentors, read lots and watch good role models
· Avoid social media. You don’t need strangers telling you about yourself, you should you not be listening to them! Their opinion of whether you are good or bad does not matter, you should only listen to those who know you, your family and friends.
Mr Langer also made the notable statement from the day is, ‘just don't worry about it’.
It was an interesting and rewarding day, and we all appreciated the opportunity to attend.
Year 11 student, Tylah Gaensler