By BRIDGET SCOTT
A SCHOOL captain has proved her leadership ability and soared through the Lion’s Youth of the Year Quest.
The national program is aimed at young students to help them improve their skills before they enter workforce, and the City of Casey had one particularly successful applicant.
Hampton Park Secondary College student Kathryn Hazell managed to progress to the district judging level of the program.
The year 12 student became involved in the quest at the end of last year after her school asked her to complete an application.
The initial stages included a 40 minute interview in front of a panel of judges, after which she was required to prepare a five minute speech on a topic of her choice.
“I chose global equality,” Kathryn said.
“I also had to answer two impromptu questions and was given two minutes to answer each one.”
The young leader said this was a difficult aspect of the process.
“I found the impromptu questions quite challenging, but a great chance to form my opinion on a topic that I perhaps did not think about,” she said.
Kathryn, who won both club and zone level, said the experience taught her a number of life lessons.
“The whole experience was eye opening and amazing,” she said.
“It has given me more confidence and drive to follow my dreams, and taught me that you don’t have to be a straight-A student to make a change.”
Despite not advancing past the district judging level, Kathryn is happy with her achievements.
“I did extremely well and got some invaluable feedback.”
