On 16 March, the Student Representative Council from Year 11 were lucky enough to attend the 2017 Halogen Leaders Conference. The theme for this conference was Imagination and its aim was to bring together young leaders from the community to network, share ideas and develop our leaderships skills.

The event commenced with a mini careers expo, featuring representatives of many universities and other organisations such as the Australian Defence Force. We also had the chance to try a virtual reality machine which transported us to other countries to raise awareness about the different struggles for young people around the world.

We were fortunate to hear from a number of guest speakers, including Sam Skinner, Halogen’s founder. She talked to us about her leadership journey and the importance of key values which should guide us in our lives. Other speakers throughout the day included Tracy Vo (a Channel 9 News Reporter), Brad Ness (Paralympic Wheel-Chair Basketballer and Flag-Bearer for Rio Paralympics), Her Excellency Kerry Sanderson, AC (Governor of Western Australia), Peter Sharp (social experimentalist and ‘connection’ fanatic) and Poppy Starr (a teenaged entrepreneur and world champion skateboarder). Each had something interesting to offer in terms of leadership such as the importance of positive thinking, reaction to setbacks and having a strong network of family and friends to support you. In particular, Poppy Starr at only 16 who has her own business, multiple world titles in skateboarding and a talent for art, showed us just how much we could achieve even at our age, and how it comes from following our unique passions and interests.

Imagination.

A key idea we took away from this conference is that student voice matters. We explored what mattered most to us in the world today and formed them into our own ideas of how we can make change. The responsibility lies in our hands to make them happen as young leaders.

Eva Cocks & Ruby Mavrick | Year 11 SRC