Perth Young Leader sails north
In March 2018, Simona Rocca (15) from Bayswater was selected as the Halogen National Young Leaders Day winner and has just returned from her week-long experience on the STS Leeuwin II.
The annual Halogen Perth event asked for each of the 630 participants to fill in a post event survey, in which Simona from Mercedes College was randomly chosen as the student who would board a Leeuwin voyage.
Leeuwin aims to enrich the lives of young people through adventure, participation and challenge on board Western Australia’s very own tall ship.
Ronan McGinniss, Managing Director of Halogen Australia speaks about their Leeuwin partnership.
“The Halogen National Young Leaders Days are all about young people learning from the leadership stories of others. Our partnership with the Leeuwin allows someone from the event to create an amazing story for themselves,” said Mr McGinniss.
“We firmly believe that leadership is practiced in actions, not just in words, so we love that Leeuwin programs are such physical and active experiences.”
Simona was involved in all aspects of on board activities including setting and furling the sails, taking the helm and climbing the masts.
Simona talks about what she gained from the life-changing experience.
“On the day of departure I was feeling intimidated and scared. Not only was the ship completely different and bigger than what I imagined, I was also surrounded by 40 strangers,” Simona explains.
“After being on the ship for an hour, I realised that Leeuwin is a safe place where everyone has similar and genuine intentions and that there was no pressure to be anyone but yourself”.
“The thing that I will take away from my experience is the different aspects involved in being a leader. The leaders on the ship and my fellow participants each demonstrated leadership in many different ways and I hope to learn from each of them”.
“I would like to thank Halogen Leadership Australia from the bottom of my heart for funding my voyage. This trip has allowed me to develop into a better person and that wouldn’t be possible without them. The Leeuwin was truly memorable and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Simona.
Halogen Australia and Leeuwin Ocean Adventure are currently working towards their 2019 partnership.
Leeuwin Ocean Adventure is an award winning provider of personal development and leadership programs that provide key life skills for young people aged 14-25 that they will take into their studies, careers and community.
Since 1986, the Leeuwin has provided exciting and life-changing programs to more than 40,000 young people across Australia.
