By Abby Gardner-Wilson
On Friday 4th March, Ruth Ong, Callum Heads, Jacob Bell and I went to the Halogen Foundation Young Leaders Day Conference, conference for Primary School aged children. It was an amazing experience, and impacted the way I thought about Leadership.
I found all of the speakers brilliant, but two stood out to me the most. Surprisingly, they were Stevie and Tim, two members from Hi-Five. I have to admit that my first thought was, “How exactly does Hi-Five relate to Leadership???” But I was really surprised as they began to talk.
Tim loved dancing and singing from Day 1. After getting in to an impressive dance and song university, he knew what his passion was. But one day, that all changed. A teacher at his university told him straight-out that he was no good, would never get a job involving song and dance. So when he finished the course, he settled down with the job…can you believe it…boat cleaning! After around six months, he told himself he was being crazy, and if song and dance was his dream, he should follow it. So he did, and after a few years, here he is, in Hi-Five! I found not only this story inspiring, but the follow up after it, “the road in life is never is never straight. People may tell you ‘you can’t do it’ or ‘you’re not good enough’ but if you don’t listen to the put-downs, and keep persisting in your goal, you can accomplish anything. Leadership is never underestimating yourself and what you can do.’’ I was amazed at his story… But it wasn’t over yet.
As Stevie made his way to the microphone, I was interested in what he had to say. He began his story. At the age of four, Stevie had an operation that could mean serious brain damage. Fortunately, it wasn’t quite that bad. The doctor confronted his parents with some depressing news; Stevie would never be able to walk. His brain was too slow in sending connections with his legs. His parents were angry and sad, all rolled into one.
The story doesn’t end there. With the determination of not only Stevie himself, but also of his parents, he learnt to walk. Yes, that’s right, after a year and a bit of practising hard, Stevie could walk perfectly. The doctors were amazed. They suggested dancing to help with his hand-eye coordination, which he tried and surprise, surprise, he loved it, and is still doing it today, now in Hi-Five! He finished off his speech with, “Like my friend Tim, I want to tell you all to never give up. The doctors told me I would never walk…well, what am I doing today? If they say ‘it’s impossible’ but you think ‘it’s possible’, then nothing can ever stop you.”
I am inspired greatly by these amazing speeches and also by what all the other speakers had to say at the conference. I am sure we are all going to remember them throughout the year as we play our part as Junior School Captains.
