My Experiences at the Aspiring Leaders Forum
Eden shared his experiences at our weekly meeting regarding his sponsored attendance at the Aspiring Leaders Forum.
The forum was based on exploring ,identifying, and sharing beliefs, values, and what motivates individuals in order to help identify what one’s purpose in the world is.
Eden started by sharing his earlier experiences including attending Lincoln High where he excelled in a range of sports including boxing, running, football and triathlons. He recently built on this by winning his age group in a Marathon.
To Eden’s surprise the atmosphere on the first day of the forum was quite relaxed and easy going.
Attendees had the opportunity to interact with various politicians. One question attendees were asked was: “Would they go to a barbeque at a high profile politician’s place?”
They were next asked about their thoughts on public speaking and given an opportunity to experience this. While Eden found this a challenge, he did fine.
On reflecting on the day Eden learnt that, with respect to politicians, you never really see what’s going on behind the scene and they are actually quite human.
On the second day a female founder talked about people in trouble with the law and she asked attendees: “So what are you going to do about this?”
The Prime Minister, in introducing the next day, shared his experiences in attending a formal meeting with respect to the impact leaders can have on others.
He decided that rather than make a fuss he would enter the meeting from the back of the crowd. One of the organising women came up to him and asked: “What are you doing? You need to walk down the red carpet as you are the most valued visitor we have ever had.”
This helped Eden understand the importance of thinking about what we do and its importance to others.
A major part of the forum involved participating in service projects.
Eden’s group went to a 10 storey marae that was built in the 70’s by multiple tribes and Iwi. The aim was to help bring a greater variety of people together which had a huge and lasting impact on the local community.
One of the most challenging activities for Eden was identifying what motivates him and why he does what he does. His upbringing had not been easy and he found this hard to talk about.
Three key people in Eden’s life helped him reflect on this:
His father had a very tough life and wanted better for his son.
His mother protected him when needed which helped him become very independent early on.
His grandfather, who passed away two years ago, took a significant role in raising him which helped motivate him to do what he does today.
Finally attendees were asked: “What is a short and long term goal of yours?”
Thinking pack over his past, Eden identified that his greatest motivator was hardship. In summary by having the opportunity to share his past helped Eden to strive to be a better person.
One of the defining moments for Eden involved writing a personal poem about these experiences.
Finally attendees were asked: “What is a short and long term goal of yours?”
Eden identified his short term goal as to live in the moment, do what feels good and do what feels right. For his long term goal Eden will be supporting a community organisation in the sporting field.
In summing up, Eden felt that a key message from the forum was that we can all be remarkable if we choose to.
Eden shared his gratefulness for the opportunity to attend the forum thanks to the sponsorship of Papanui Rotary.