walking . is . overrated

Just a bit of a personal prattle from me today! This morning I spoke at my old intermediate school’s prizegiving, and wow, what a buzz. I went to Kowhai Intermediate in 1997 and 1998 (whoa, how old am I?!) and it was such an awesome school, playing a huge part in the self-confidence and self-belief I possess today. So it was a real honour to be asked back, especially to speak in front of all the students and their families! I hope that it was refreshing from the kids’ point of view to have someone speak to them who wasn’t an All Black or Warriors player, and gave them some sort of insight into the ‘real world’ they’re about to face. Here’s just a snippet of the “wisdom” I imparted, hehe…

So it’s really important to stay true to your passion. It doesn’t matter if it’s rugby, chess, reading, writing, poetry, whatever. Just because your friends might not think it’s ‘cool’, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stick with it! Again, it’s all part of what makes you unique, and what makes you interesting! As everyone gets older, and being “cool” becomes less important, it’s the stuff that you’re really passionate about that’ll set you apart from the rest, not what was “cool” back in school. Back when I was at school, Britney Spears was cool! Now, well…

I really enjoyed my first ’bout’ of public speaking, I very much hope this isn’t the last!