Late last term we held our elections for our High School Captains. I was privileged to announce Laura Cabban and Sophie Field as our High School Captains and Joshua Barnard and Tanya Onserio as our High School Vice Captains. What a fantastic group of influential young people they are. I have every confidence in their abilities to lead the student body with diligence and a servant heart. Congratulations to you all.
Today I wanted to take the chance to introduce you to our High School Captains. I have enjoyed getting to know them over the last couple years and thought it was a nice idea for our wider community to find out a little more about what makes our captains tick!
Captain Laura
What made you want to be a School Captain at Parkes Christian School? I wanted to have the opportunity of leading this amazing school by becoming School Captain at PCS for 2020. A motivation for me was the encouragement that I received from my peers. It really helped me put into perspective what I could do to serve and give back to the school. As I have grown, I’ve always strived to be a strong leader and a good role model for others, especially the little ones!
How do you define leadership? I define leadership as someone who is willing to go that extra mile and is able to communicate with their peers efficiently and effectively. Leadership is not only about being a good example, but to also be approachable. I believe that a quality a leader should have is to have a vision and act upon it.
What is your greatest strength? My greatest strength is helping others and being someone who is approachable. I am confident that my strengths will help me to overcome any of the challenges that may be thrown my way whilst I’m captain at PCS for 2020.
What will be your greatest challenge as Captain? I believe that one of my greatest challenges I will face as captain would be the many speeches I will be required to make. I’m not the greatest public speaker but I hope to be one by the end of 2020!
What are your hobbies outside of school? My favourite things to do outside of school are playing sports, cooking and hanging out with friends. Many of you would know I love my netball and touch footy. I have also found a new tradition (which was shown to me by some very special people) that after playing a game of touch football, it was then required of you to go out to KFC! It’s a new way of life!
What are you aiming to do when you complete Year 12? A goal that I’m aiming to achieve after completing year 12 is to go to university and get a degree as a PDHPE teacher or a Sport and Outdoor Recreation Officer. Anything that’s related to sport, I am willing to give a go!
If you could choose to have any superpower, what would it be and why? This is a tough one for sure, but I would like to have the superpower of being able to read minds. I definitely think reading minds could go two ways but it would be so cool being able to read what people are thinking.
Captain Sophie
What made you want to be a School Captain at Parkes Christian School? I was really wanting to be able to make a positive impact on the school. I have been here since year 7, so I’ve learnt the way the school rolls and how much it’s grown. I wanted to be a part of this and to help make big decisions for further success of the school. I also was hoping to have the opportunity to represent my school at many different events, as well as becoming more comfortable with public speaking and meeting new people.
How do you define leadership? To me, leadership is being able to serve. Leadership is being a voice for each student, and helping them as they grow in life experience. In the second part of 1 Timothy 4:12 it says, “set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” I also believe that a leader should have these qualities.
What is your greatest strength? I’d have to say my greatest strength is organisation. I function best when things are organised and planned out. I find it very useful so that I don’t stress out as much and I know what order tasks need to be completed.
What will be your greatest challenge as Captain? I think that the greatest challenge I’ll face as captain is speaking in front of crowds. I find it a little nerve-racking, however one of the reasons I wanted to be captain was to become more comfortable in this area.
What are your hobbies outside of school? I don’t do much outside of school other than studying at the moment. However, I always try to find time to get out and enjoy life. I’m also a huge cat lover so I’m always making time to give them attention.
What are you aiming to do when you complete Year 12? At the moment it’s not set in stone. I used to want to be a journalist, then a counsellor, then a lawyer, but at the moment I’m leaning more towards something political. I want to be able to make a positive impact in our community, and from witnessing the current drought situation first hand it really makes me want to be able to get our government to be aware of the struggles, and to do more.
If you could choose to have any superpower, what would it be and why? That’s a pretty tricky question but I’d have to choose invisibility. With this power I would be able to go to any place on earth. Another added benefit is that it would be great for hide and seek.