On Friday the 10th of March, the Geelong High school student leaders: Mariele Go, Alex Aidt, Harry Jones, and Will Bibby, gave a presentation at the Barwon Schools Young Leaders conference. We presented to year 6 students from surrounding schools in the Geelong region on the topic of how they can become great leaders. Our mission for the day, was to provide these future leaders with the knowledge and courage we’ve learnt throughout our own leadership pathways and experiences, (conferences, programs and from our current roles) to help the students become immensely more confident, capable, and knowledgeable to become future leaders of their own.

Will Bibby: At first, I was nervous to speak among so many brilliant and ambitious students. However, it was so worth it! Throughout our presentation, it was great to see so many eager eyes whilst taking the courage to share their thoughts and their enthusiasm. Our team gave some tips and tricks we have learnt as leaders, some of which were to ‘always say yes’ to every opportunity that arises, and to ‘make more mistakes’ and then learn and grow from them. Overall, it felt really amazing and empowering to not only share our tips with the students but also to see them so engaged and inspired to become even greater leaders than ourselves.

Alex Aidt: Being given the opportunity to speak to the next generation of students was an absolute pleasure. The short but diverse presentation that we gave was one that aimed to appeal to every kind of aspiring leader, which we wouldn’t have been able to do without each other, and so the experience was rewarding in more ways than one. My section of the presentation was an activity that aimed to demonstrate leadership in action, and involved the audience to help communicate the lesson in a way that the students could understand. Preparing for this conference and putting words to the things I have learned as a leader was a great reflective experience on its own, and I feel much stronger because of it.

Harry Jones: The experience of being able to help influence future leaders was fantastic. The energy and enthusiasm of the primary school students was amazing, and it was really great to see everyone eager and wanting to get involved. It was a brilliant opportunity that I’m glad to have been a part of and it felt fulfilling to be able to provide tips and techniques to become better leaders as they grow up and gain more responsibility.

Mariele Go: Having the chance to inspire young leaders was an absolute pleasure, especially when they were all so eager to learn about leadership qualities. I enjoyed working alongside my fellow school captains once again, in creating an impactful experience for them. Presenting towards a younger audience was a new and interesting experience for me, but overall, I was able to take away a few new strengths of my own.