Over your high school career, you have held many leadership roles in your school and community. How has your perspective on leadership and what it means to be a leader evolved?
The types of leadership I have been involved in are incredibly broad. From being a sports captain to an overall leader, I’ve come to see that leadership doesn’t always come from the most skilled individual. From being a sports captain, I learned how to keep team morale and energy high, and how to give feedback without upsetting my teammates. From being an overall leader, I’ve learned how to help people feel more welcome, and how to get them to truly show their potential. Leaders now must be open, cooperative, willing and considerate to truly get the best from their peers.

In addition to your studies, you are talented fencer. Where does your love of fencing come from?
Fencing was something that I stumbled across when I entered high school. The reason that I love it because I found that it was not only great for my physical growth, but also helped me grow mentally. Starting from literally the bottom, I learned how to preserve and to really give everything 100%. Even when I lost (which happened a lot more than I would like to admit), I learnt how to cope, reflect and to motivate myself to keep going. I think that that growth made me love fencing.

You are also very involved in with your school’s debate team. How are you able to balance your studies and extracurricular activities?
Balancing studies and extracurricular activities are something can be particularly hard. The trick to balancing studying is to learn how to be more efficient in class and how to maximise all the time you have. Most of my best work came from the 40 minutes to an hour train rides that came before and after training. A strict schedule and being passionate in what you do can be enough to get you through. Asking people for help can be a lifesaver and there are always people that you can lean on to keep you going.

What is one goal you would like to achieve in the next five years?
In the next 5 years, I would like to get accepted into a position as an intern or a contract at the World Health Organisation. I’ve always been extremely interested and passionate about Global Health and Immunology, and if I got accepted to work on issues such as mental health, Polio or the like, I think it would be amazing. I’m currently working towards this goal, and hope to get accepted into the University of Sydney for a Bachelor of Medical Science at the end of this year, which would be the first small step in getting to that goal.

You recently attended the 2019 Model G20 Tokyo Task Force. What were some key takeaways from that experience?
The Tokyo Task Force really opened my eyes to how connected teenagers are. There were many things that were different between the Australian delegates as we were of different ages, but my fellow Task Force Team understood me perfectly. The other takeaway was that teenagers do have a voice that people are willing to listen to. Presenting in front of 1000+ people showed me that people want to hear our opinions and thoughts, we just have to be brave and really put ourselves out there.

What might people be surprised to learn about you?
I used to be in a school musical, where I played a Swiss skier that accompanied Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson. As a result of this, I still love to sing and dance.

About Knovva Academy:

Knovva’s signature offerings connect top students from around the world with visionary educators, experts, and innovators to gain the skills critical to 21st century leadership. From world class online courses to five-day intensive simulations to two-week immersion programs, Knovva students break down cultural barriers so they can rebuild a world without them.