My Podcast Episode

My podcast

 This is my podcast episode, in which I interviewed Manase. He is one of my classmates and also one of my A-team junior basketball teammates. I interviewed him about the leadership he has shown during class and game time and I learned quite a bit about how he does stuff.

Evaluating Myself

 Over the past 5 weeks, I have been learning about leadership and everything about it. I have learned that specific roles need specific leaders. In some roles, you need to lead by example and take charge. In others, you might have to bring everyone together and get things done.  Honestly, I haven't really put these things or included them in how I act or behave. I have been pretty slack about it. So the next step for me is implementing them into my life. I could lead by example more and be a greater role model than I am. By doing that I'm being less complying and more systems-aware and self-aware. I also need to be less controlling and more empathetic. To be a leader, you have to know how your people feel and be empathetic towards them. That way you can grow great relationships with them. Being more of myself and being authentic is something I think I also need to do. I need to stop doing stuff because other people are doing them. If I can do all this and change my mindset a little, I think I'll be able to become a really great leader in Otaki College.

Manukura Reflective Writing

 Since joining the Manukura trial class, I have become more of an active learner and have been more in tune with my work. Back in my old class, I didn't ever want to do the work. But now I am excited to work and am happier to do it. I sometimes was behind in my work in other classes but now I am never behind. This class has made me feel happier to come to school and happier to come to classes. I would change a few things about the Manukura trial. We could include more science-related subjects and English-related subjects too. I feel that we have been missing out on science a lot since joining the trial class. So that is one thing that I think we could improve on.

Qualities Tournament

 

I think Loyalty came out on top because I think loyalty is the best thing you can have. You can have someone who is kind and honest but still betray you as a leader, friend, or partner. Loyalty means you will never be betrayed. I think I could probably improve the way I live and use these qualities a bit more.

An Inspiring Leader

 

The leadership circle

This week, my class had to complete a task about the leadership circle. We had to rate ourselves on a scale of 1-100 in each category. After I had filled out the whole piece of paper, I was surprised by what I had found out about myself. I turned out to be very controlling but had low systems awareness. But I wasn't surprised about being really achieving because I am really focused on my goals. Overall, this task has told me that I need to be more selfless and lead for others and not just for myself.

Personality test

 

I recently took a personality test and was surprised that it said I have The Influencer type personality. The test said that I talk in a cool, calm manner. In my eyes, I'm not calm or cool when I talk, and I don't really enjoy the challenge of meeting new people. I'm a bit more shy and like to keep to myself.

Leadership

 I believe that leadership is when you believe in and support your team as much as you can no matter the outcome. Your job as a leader is to lift your team up and help them achieve their maximum potential, individually and as a group. You don't need to be the best at anything to be a leader, you just have to be good at bringing everyone together.

Mana Toimata

The Radio show

 This term, my class started to do a project by making a radio show. We were all put in groups of about 3 or 4 people. My group had Me (Mana), Pehi, and Rakei. We then came up with a topic for each group and people to interview. For a few weeks, we went around recording our interviews and ourselves. After we had done all of our recordings, we edited them and made sure they were ready to be put on the radio.

My team struggled a bit with interviewing people, as we had to wait a week to interview one of our people. In the end, we managed to finish the show on time, it sounded great. We had everything that we needed and more, I think we definitely met the criteria. All though it turned out great, I would change a few things that we did. We could have sorted out our interview a bit better and where we interviewed them.

Our team did really well collaborating and communicating with each other and we all made sure to contribute something. But we did have trouble with Rakei, as he was always away. I really enjoyed this project and I hope I get to do something like this again.

Here's the link to our radio show segment. Radio show

My Boy in the Striped Pyjamas essay

 This is my Boy in the Striped Pyjamas essay. I've spent quite a while on this piece writing!

In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is: It doesn't matter if you're different colours, have different backgrounds, or believe in different things, anybody can be friends. Bruno comes from a family that is rich and believes that they are superior to other races, and Shmuel comes from a family that doesn't have a lot of money, is discriminated against by their race, and now lives in a concentration camp. But through all of the differences they have, they still manage to become best friends.

At first, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel is quite easy-going, Bruno seems inquisitive about Shmuel, who doesn't come off as being as eager talking to him but still continues to have a conversation. Both find out things they have in common and the differences they have, "He had hoped that Shmuel might have said no as it would give them something else in common." This helped me realize that it's only after you ask questions and really get to know someone, that you can have a real relationship or companionship and truly judge them. I feel that you can only criticize someone after you get to know someone, as you should.

Later, in the relationship, Bruno is confused by why Shmuel's life is so bad and different from his. Shmuel tells Bruno about how many Jews are on the other side of the fence and how hard they have it over there. Bruno doesn't understand why Shmuel's life is so horrible because he sees Shmuel as just another boy that has the same problems as him, "Shmuel looked very sad when he told this story and Bruno didn't know why; it didn't seem like such a terrible thing to him, and after all much the same thing had happened to him." This helped me understand that everyone is in a situation, some worse than others, but that doesn't mean you're in that situation by yourself. Friends can help you a lot, even if they don't understand what you're going through. I think that this is a great message and talking to your friends is really important.

At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now really close. They both love seeing each other and would be hard to separate. It just shows how much they like each other and how much they need each other too, "Bruno had an urge to give Shmuel a hug, just to let him know how much he liked him and how much he'd enjoyed talking to him over the last year." This helped me understand that a relationship only grows by getting to know someone, not assuming to know someone based on their background. I think this is a great example for children and for them to be kind to people they don't know.

Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from two children that come from totally different backgrounds and views to two best mates that just see the good side in each other due to the fact that they didn't see each other differently. Just children. This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, that people from any type of background can become friends. It's not about where you come from or what race you are, it's about who you are. In my opinion, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas definitely shows how two complete strangers (Bruno and Shmuel) with completely different circumstances and situations can become friends because they are just two children who want a friend.