National Young Leaders Day

On Monday 24 May, a group of SLC Members and I went to the city to participate in National Young Leaders Day.  We were privileged to hear from many famous and talented individuals on the subject of leadership; including Jordan Lewis, Josh Pyke and Jimmy Rees.  It was inspiring to learn about the things they did and the adversity they overcame; like Lachie Smart, who worked for 13 months before getting a single sponsor for his attempt at the record for youngest person to ever fly around the world, and Michelle Young, who became one of the first ever female firefighters.  I learnt so much from these talks, such as to never walk past a problem, keep a support group of people you trust and be honest with yourself and others about what you want to do.  National Young Leaders Day is an amazing opportunity, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to better themselves.

Sully Bryant (Year 8)

SLC member

On Monday 24 May we travelled by train to Melbourne for the National Young Leaders Day.  When we arrived, we sat in the beautiful Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Center and waited patiently for the speakers to come on stage.

The first one was Lachie Smart, the youngest person to fly solo around the world.  He told us a story of how he flew into storms, and how he learnt to fly through storms and that an error nearly cost him his life.  I learnt that mistakes can be a way of learning and that they are just a part of life that can be solved. 

The next speaker was a footy player called Jordan Lewis.  He talked about little things in his life that added up, like how playing footy in his hometown of Warrnambool got him playing for Hawthorn for 11 years and an extra two with the 'Demons'.  I learnt that having a support network can be useful and using them can mean less stress on yourself. 

Third was Josh Pike, and he called himself a creative. I think that meant he did a lot of creative things, but no one asked him that question and I wish I had.  He told us many stories of failure, from his first big gig to his first attempt of publishing a book.  For every success, he had five failures, and he was ok with that.  He left us with a message “Reassess, regroup, and try again”.

Next speaker was Jimmy Rees, AKA Jimmy Giggle from Giggle and Hoot.  He was by far the best speaker.  He was funny in an age-appropriate way, making both students and teachers laugh a lot.  His stories were all about following his dreams and the more he shared them with friends and family the more real the stories became.  Thanks to his wife, then girlfriend, he got an audition from the ABC, which signed him up to a kid’s show.  After 12 years on air, he has become mildly popular on TikTok, and is still funny.  During lunch, some people lined up to get photos with him, and I was lucky enough to get one early on.

Finally, we had a firefighter, Michelle Young tell us about her job.  She was the Deputy Commissioner of Fire Rescue Victoria, and she was often the first woman in any of her roles.  She was one of the few women in the academy to rise through the ranks.  She told us a story of her getting a snake out of the kitchen, and how brave her partner was.  She then told us he committed suicide and taught us about the importance of taking care of yourself, mentally and physically.

Poppy de Lacy (Year 9)

SLC member and LEAD student