Speech inspired by life
Media Story by Rawan Saadi, The Wanaka Sun.
Inspiring voice . . . Tanyn Wood, of Mount Aspiring College, delivers her speech in front of more than 200 people at the Nga ¯ Kete Wa ¯nanga Marae in Auckland. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
A WANAKA student was one of six finalists for national race unity speech awards held in Auckland on May 3 and 4.
Mount Aspiring College year 13 student Tanyn Wood received the Tohu Manaakitanga — the Manukau Institute of Technology Award for Manaakitanga.
The award is for a speaker who demonstrates manaakitanga or hospitality through ngakau (compassion) and aroha (empathy) in overcoming prejudice.
The race unity speech awards are held every year and offer senior secondary students a platform to express their perspectives on race relations in New Zealand.
The overall champion was Joy Pillay, from Ormiston Senior College, in Auckland.
This was Tanyn’s second year being a finalist for the awards, which she said meant a lot to her as a first-generation immigrant.
Tanyn moved to New Zealand when she was 10 from South Africa and was attending St Peter’s College in Cambridge until this year when she applied for the Mount Aspiring College Hostel Programme.
The programme welcomes select year 13 students from across the country to experience semi-independent living and take part in outdoor programmes.
Her decision to apply was influenced by pictures she had seen of Wanaka’s scenery and activities.
Since moving south, Tanyn has immersed herself in new experiences and the speech awards were a part of that.
‘‘I just really enjoy keeping busy, trying new things and pushing myself,’’ she said.
Each year, students taking part in the speech awards are asked to suggest a theme and, this year, her theme, ‘‘The Great Ocean of Diversity’’, was chosen.
The title of her speech was ‘‘Aotearoa: One Ocean, Born of Many Rivers — Diverse and United’’.
‘‘When we allow ourselves to be blinded by differences we corrupt our rivers and the ocean suffers,’’ she said.
Tanyn’s speech uses oceans and rivers as a metaphor for Aotearoa’s diversity, something that was inspired by her own migrant journey as well as her new experiences being surrounded by Wanaka’s natural landscape.
She added she was thrilled to have been one of the finalists and was both excited and nervous to be delivering the speech to her school in the coming weeks.
Police Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers, the chief judge of the awards, stressed the importance of providing a platform for rangatahi to discuss and share their thoughts on important societal issues.
‘‘I am astonished by the quality of the speeches from our young people,’’ she said.
‘‘As police, we are proud to be supporting a platform for our young people to voice their aspirations and solutions.’’
The students also participated in a race unity hui, where they discussed race relations.