On Wednesday 31 July, we had the privilege of attending PILOT (Pacific Island Leaders Of Tomorrow) programme which was held at the AUT City campus.  The theme for this year’s programme was “Our Ancestors were LEADERS, they were one with the sea.”

During this programme, we were taught different ways to embrace our leadership skills for next year.  We worked alongside different schools such as Westlake Girls, Sacred Heart and St Mary’s.  This allowed us to come out of our comfort zones to learn about aspects of leadership as well as showing confidence in our Pasifika community.  One of our workshops was led by Kainga Ora and focused on team building, leadership and creating connections with new people.  The second workshop was run by the AUT campus and they focused on working amongst others.  Here we developed our communication skills by actively engaging and listening to speakers and other students.

We can confidently say that if you get the opportunity to attend programmes such as this, take it!!  We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to attend this programme, as we believe that as young Pasifika people, it is important that we continue to embrace our culture, especially throughout the academic and workforces.

Peta Ng Lam, Ruby Wilson, Nadja McGoon, Agatha Godinet, Talie Tapling, Anya Poe, Valelia Akisa Fuimaono, Year 12