It’s Their Future, Not Ours: Why Youth Voices Matter | A Conversation with Rachel Gu

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Thank you so much, Rachel, for coming to my podcast.
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And it's really good to have you. So I would
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just pass the mic down to you and let you introduce
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yourself. Yeah. Hi, I'm Rachel. I'm in my first
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year at Auckland University. I'm from the North
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Shore area and I work as a youth intern for NCAD,
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which is the Auckland North Community and Development.
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And I'm also on the youth advisory panel for
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Auckland Council at the moment. So my work is
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really youth focused. And for me, one of the
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most important things is definitely just capturing
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everyone's perspectives and values. I was born
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in China, but I lived in Vanuatu for a year and
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a half. And then I came to New Zealand. So coming
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from very different cultures, I really do value
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the different perspectives that people bring
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to the table. And I think, yeah, I want to continue
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to work in the youth area and to continue to
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capture people's stories. Can I explore a little
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bit more about your life in Manawatu? I think
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Vanuatu, my memory is like the paradise, you
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know. I went to Vanuatu when I was like seven
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and a half because I did half a year of primary
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school in China. And I just remember there was
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so much homework in year one. And when I went
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to Vanuatu, it was like going to the ocean like
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every single day, horse riding, swimming, and
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life was just so beautiful. So Vanuatu was definitely
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like a really good memory for me. But yeah, I
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think in Vanuatu, I did learn a lot. I went to
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a French primary school in Vanuatu. So that's
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where my love for languages sparked in that area.
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I was also able to meet people from a lot of
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different cultures because there's obviously
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the indigenous Vanuatu people, but there's a
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lot of French. immigrants as well as people from
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Australia New Zealand so my friends were from
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like everywhere it was really cool and yeah I
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think Vanuatu was definitely like a really good
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experience in my life and I am really grateful
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to have that when I was young and I think it
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really showed me how to connect with people because
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you know when you're little You don't really
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mind about what people think. You just kind of
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make friends anyway. And I feel like moving a
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lot, it really helps me to be able to connect
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to people quite easily when I meet them. And
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I think that's something really important, especially
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working with youth and working with people in
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general. So when you were in Manawatu, how long
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did you stay there? I stayed there for a year
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and a half. So not super long, but a little bit.
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But yeah, I enjoyed the experience so much. It's
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definitely a good place. Oh, but it's important.
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Because you are at the age of developmental stages,
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so that kind of, what is the word, has a lasting
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impact on you as an individual, isn't it? 100%,
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yeah. And so where were you after that, after
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Vanuatu? I came to New Zealand after Vanuatu,
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around nine years old. pretty much stayed in
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New Zealand after that had a few visits back
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to China but I actually haven't been back to
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Vanuatu since coming to New Zealand so it's been
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like a while now I'm hoping to maybe go back
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sometimes you know next year or the year after
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since uni is a bit busy at the moment so I'll
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go once uni is like figured out and you know
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life is a bit more chill hopefully yeah so would
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you like to share a little bit more about what
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make you interested in youth work? Because you're
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not just doing it as an intern, you're also involved
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quite heavily in the council environment. Yeah,
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so I think I kind of got into the youth aspect
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during high school. I was part of two youth councils
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and I was part of the pastoral committee at school.
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big people person, I would say, like people fills
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my cup. And so that's why now at uni, I still
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continue to do what I love. And I think one thing
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I love the most about working with young people
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is that they have the coolest ideas. Like they
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want to be involved and they want to really share
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their voices and things. But it's hard because,
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you know, your age is obviously something that
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people can be like, oh, you're quite young. You
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don't have that much wisdom. You don't have that
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much knowledge. So people can shut you down from
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time to time. And I think, you know, educating
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young people around voting, around civics is
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so important because they are the people who
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shape where I guess Aotearoa goes in the next
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few years and their votes really do matter. So,
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and I think making sure that young people are
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heard because one of the biggest things when
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I was doing like a health and what is it called?
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Health and PE. report last year one of the main
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things that they talked about was like mental
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health and isolation so I think for me as well
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working in the youth space is to bring people
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together to make sure that everyone is like they
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feel like they're included not just like physically
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being there but also like mentally being able
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to share your voice and I think being included
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also means that they feel safe to share their
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voices and yes that's really what brings me to
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work with young people and as a young person
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myself I feel like I can. I'll try to understand
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everyone. I know it's impossible to empathize
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with every single person because everyone comes
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from a different experience. But I'll try my
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best to hopefully understand where people are
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coming from to see where we can do together as
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well. Was there any reason or is it by chance
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that you get involved into the school council?
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I don't remember that much. Because I was at
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a... I don't know if you know, but Kingsway School,
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it's in Oriwa. So I was there from year seven
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to year 11. And my change to Rangitoto was purely
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because I wanted to take the international baccalaureate
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course, which is not offered in my old school.
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So it was like a really rushed move because I
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moved in halfway of year 11. So coming into Rangi,
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I was like overwhelmed by how much is going on
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at Rangitoto College as well, because, you know,
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it's such a big school. There's so many opportunities.
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And I'm a very social person. So when I first
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came, I was like, oh my gosh, there's so many
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things I can do. So I like signed up to a lot
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of different things. And I think when I moved
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into year 12 and academics got busy and everything,
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I kind of like gravitated towards working with
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young people and working with youth. I mean,
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there's obviously so many different things around
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you, like environment, there's things around
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like mental health and all of that. But I think
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for me, it was definitely that group of like
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working with young people, youth counsellors.
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And not necessarily politics, but just around
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civics aspect of things. And I feel like once
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I gravitated toward those in year 13, life got
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a bit more busier. So I kind of selected the
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few that I was really passionate about. And yeah,
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and that's how I kind of like stuck to the youth
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side of things. Can you share with me a little
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bit more? Because this is something that I'm
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particularly interested as well. As a middle
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-aged man, 53, I genuinely felt bad for your
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generation. because you have lots more issues
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to deal with with what we have not done. Climax
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is one of the biggest challenges, of course.
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But I want you to have this opportunity to share
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what are the issues that you have commonly hear
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from young people that they would like to see
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the change and want to make a difference. I think
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one thing just globally is like environment and
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climate. I think that's something that, you know,
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it's integrated into what we're learning, which
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I really do appreciate. We learn about the Sustainable
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Development Goals by the United Nations and all
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of that. And I think environment is something
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that impacts everyone. Most youth, while they
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might not be necessarily involved with things
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that make an impact, they are aware of the climate
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change issues and all of that. on a more New
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Zealand like a locally based thing I definitely
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do think especially after lockdown and after
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social media and all of that isolation is a big
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issue it's something that you know you don't
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really see much because if someone's isolated
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you obviously won't see them as often as if they
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weren't so I think that's one of the things more
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on the mental health aspect and moving on I guess
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mental health is a significant issue as well
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I feel like I can't say much towards it because
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I feel like growing up I've had quite good support
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network around me so I've had like a good how
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not really a good childhood but also I was just
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like I think people around me are really supportive.
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So I didn't really necessarily experience a lot
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of mental health issues during high school or
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anything like that. But I do have friends who,
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you know, dropped out of school to stay at home
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to go through things. And I feel like mental
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health is definitely just the awareness around
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it. We do talk about this Mental Health Awareness
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Week and things like that. But I feel like no
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one realizes the impact is because mental health
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not only affect the person itself, but affects...
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their families, their friends, and even like
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the schools, the teachers who know them. And
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I think that is a big issue for youth technology
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wise. I'm not super good at technology, so I
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won't say too much around that. And yeah, I think
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from my perspective, looking at youth in this
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age, I think these are the issues that are quite
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prominent. I like what you say though, Rachel,
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because you're not saying because of the adversity
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you experienced from the childhood, so you're
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coming from the experience space. However, you
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are saying you have witnessed things happen around
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your friends because you are such a people person
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that you enjoy that kind of social network and
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all that you have seen. things that happened
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to them because of mental health and then it
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deteriorated. And hence, a family and themselves
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suffer from it. And they really want to see and
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make positive changes and also helping them to
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have a voice to let society... and also adults
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especially not to forget about them just because
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we see you young and then it's like oh what's
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your problems but you are saying it's not it's
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a lot more than that I feel like yeah like all
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the issues there's no like single cause to an
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issue it's quite like multiple aspects that leads
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to the issue and I think like being like an immigrant
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as well I feel like there's also that culture
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aspect towards it because I feel like now there's
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more awareness around mental health in China,
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but definitely with my parents' generation, there
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weren't a lot. So it is hard to really just acknowledge
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and understand what people are going through,
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especially in the topic of mental health and
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what are some ways that you could truly help
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them. Because if you break a leg, you get a cast
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and it heals. But mental health, you can't just
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be like, hey, get better. It's not that simple,
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I would say. I'm curious. You're talking about
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things that deal with... have advocating for
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and things that you're passionate about and would
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you like to share a little bit more about your
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childhood because I felt like you have such a
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different story as a migrant and would you like
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to share a little bit more about that so I was
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born in Beijing and I was pretty much raised
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in Beijing um in my childhood I feel like honestly
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I don't think I remember too much from my life
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in Beijing I just remember I did a lot of piano
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when I was young. I don't do piano lessons anymore,
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but I still love playing the piano in my spare
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time. And then I did kindergarten in China. And
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then China is a bit different because you go
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to primary school when you're seven. So I kind
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of just went there for like half a year and I
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left. So my Chinese is ish -ish. I can speak,
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I can read. My writing is not the best. And I'm
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planning to improve on that over the semester
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and next year, hopefully. I could get better.
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My childhood in China, I think I was quite privileged
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because my parents spent quite a lot of time
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with me when I was younger. Because I guess in
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Asian cultures, it is quite common to be looked
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after by your grandparents. But for me, my parents
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really had the time to take me on vacation. I
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remember visiting Thailand when I was little.
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And also we went to Singapore as well when I
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was little. So I think I was exposed to the world
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quite early on in my life. After that, we moved
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to Vanuatu, which I talked about. I went to a
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French primary school. It was quite fun. I get
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to see the natural aspect of the world because
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I guess growing up in Beijing, it was quite like
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industrialized. We lived in like this apartment
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and, you know, the idea of air pollution was
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just so common because you hear about it quite
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a lot. And I think going to Vanuatu, everything
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was just so like peaceful. It was quiet. Like
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the houses over there, some of them are... literally
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like a very natural aspect of life and I remember
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we had like a banana tree in our garden so I'll
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just like pick bananas off when it's ripe so
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it was a good time and then yeah so when I was
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nine we came to New Zealand I did my last two
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years of primary school here and then I did the
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rest of my secondary school in New Zealand as
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well I stayed on the shore the whole time and
00:12:19.529 --> 00:12:21.809
I think I didn't really get involved much when
00:12:21.809 --> 00:12:24.330
I was like in middle school or primary school
00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:27.509
I I can't say I focused on academics because
00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:29.669
I just remember it was lockdown and I played
00:12:29.669 --> 00:12:32.289
a lot of games with my friends online. And I
00:12:32.289 --> 00:12:34.309
think it was definitely after going to Rangy
00:12:34.309 --> 00:12:37.210
where I became a lot more involved with the community
00:12:37.210 --> 00:12:40.409
and I guess youth in general. I think my childhood,
00:12:40.549 --> 00:12:44.730
I would say it was definitely a really... I won't
00:12:44.730 --> 00:12:46.690
say it's the perfect experience of a childhood,
00:12:46.809 --> 00:12:49.450
but I would say it shaped me into who I am because...
00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:52.019
I moved a lot and I think that really pushed
00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.940
me to make friends, to talk to people because
00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:58.220
like, for example, moving from Vanuatu to New
00:12:58.220 --> 00:13:00.620
Zealand, I never, I didn't expect that we would
00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:02.240
move from Vanuatu to New Zealand. It was kind
00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.120
of like a decision that my parents made last
00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:06.639
minute. So, you know, it was like saying goodbye
00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:08.519
to all my friends that I kind of just made like
00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.840
a year ago and leaving again. Same thing happened
00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:15.220
when I moved from Kingswood, Rangitoto. I was
00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:17.799
there, I left like midway of the year. So it
00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:19.840
was like, kind of like, hey guys, I'm leaving
00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.639
next time. So you kind of just have to remake
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.500
friends again. And so I think it really did shape
00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.679
me into someone who was able to talk to anyone,
00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:33.149
to just say hi, to not be too afraid of. you
00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:35.250
know having a conversation with people and I
00:13:35.250 --> 00:13:37.149
think that helped me a lot especially working
00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:40.450
with people with youth and this like civic and
00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:42.870
youth engagement area which is quite cool and
00:13:42.870 --> 00:13:45.889
I really appreciate that can we share a little
00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:48.870
bit about your parents I think how do I say they
00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:52.649
are have that like Asian parents aspect in them
00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:55.509
but they try not to force it onto me which is
00:13:55.509 --> 00:13:58.809
quite appreciated I think growing up my parents
00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:01.549
have never been super like you must do something
00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:04.000
you must be someone sort of idea like obviously
00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.220
I had that typical like Chinese parent who give
00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:08.399
you homework during the holidays experience which
00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.440
it's all good my math did improve so it's fine
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.460
but um they were never like you must you know
00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:17.899
do this for university or study well I think
00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:19.740
growing up I can't say I'm like the most academic
00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:21.940
person but I've always been like what I tell
00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.360
my parents I'm in that top group but I can never
00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.039
be the top person so sort of idea and they're
00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:28.740
okay with it they're like oh as long as you're
00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:30.899
like happy with your life doing what you like
00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:33.100
it's all good I think especially after coming
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:35.240
to New Zealand, they were very busy. My mom was
00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:37.480
studying her master's and my dad was working.
00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:40.960
I think maybe primary or early middle school,
00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.169
I was quite independent. I bussed to school every
00:14:44.169 --> 00:14:47.169
day in like year four. And then I continued to
00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:49.769
bus all the way until I can drive in year 13.
00:14:50.070 --> 00:14:52.230
And I remember like packing my own lunches and
00:14:52.230 --> 00:14:54.409
stuff because my mom would be like studying and
00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:56.470
my dad would go to work early. I think, yeah,
00:14:56.590 --> 00:14:58.129
there's good and bad to it. Like my parents,
00:14:58.190 --> 00:14:59.909
when I was young, they spent a lot of time with
00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:01.769
me. And once we came to New Zealand and I was
00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:04.049
a bit older as well, they gave me that independence
00:15:04.049 --> 00:15:07.980
to let me do what I want. I think not putting
00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:10.539
a lot of pressure is definitely something I really
00:15:10.539 --> 00:15:13.220
appreciate because I try my best in things, but
00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:15.379
I can't say I will succeed in everything. So
00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.379
it's good that, you know, they celebrate all
00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:21.080
the little wins in life. Yeah, I think that really
00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:22.960
shaped me into someone who just like gives things
00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.679
a go instead of worrying too much about the outcome.
00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:28.570
I mean, I did struggle with this back in like
00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:30.690
year 12, year 13, because everything around me
00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:33.370
was super amazing. Because I did the international
00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:35.789
baccalaureate. Yes, everyone is amazing, accomplished
00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:38.210
person you will meet. I had time where I really
00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:40.190
need to focus on the outcome of things. But I
00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:42.730
feel like it's more important just to experience
00:15:42.730 --> 00:15:45.029
everything. Because I think every step that you
00:15:45.029 --> 00:15:46.830
take, you will learn something from it. Sometimes
00:15:46.830 --> 00:15:49.509
you feel like it's wasted. But I don't think
00:15:49.509 --> 00:15:51.110
that's true, like even though you might not.
00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:53.549
like gain things academically or gain things
00:15:53.549 --> 00:15:56.009
financially you'll learn some experience that
00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:58.210
you won't forget and I think you know speaking
00:15:58.210 --> 00:16:00.769
on behalf of my parents going to Vanuatu was
00:16:00.769 --> 00:16:03.769
probably a detour for them in life because especially
00:16:04.409 --> 00:16:06.490
Coming from Beijing, no one really knew where
00:16:06.490 --> 00:16:10.090
Vanuatu was or where on earth that is. So moving
00:16:10.090 --> 00:16:12.350
to Vanuatu, I'm pretty sure they faced a lot
00:16:12.350 --> 00:16:14.629
of like, not like confusion, but just people
00:16:14.629 --> 00:16:16.309
not knowing what they're doing with their life.
00:16:16.429 --> 00:16:19.289
So I think it's a good role model for me to just
00:16:19.289 --> 00:16:21.070
show that life is not a straight path. You can
00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:22.909
kind of just, you will learn a lot of different
00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:25.129
things on the side. And now looking back, they
00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:27.169
were saying how it was really good that we went
00:16:27.169 --> 00:16:29.330
to Vanuatu because honestly, I'll just share
00:16:29.330 --> 00:16:32.009
this as a small story, but I learned French in
00:16:32.009 --> 00:16:35.230
Vanuatu. And in year seven, my mom found me a
00:16:35.230 --> 00:16:36.710
French tutor because she was like, oh, you should
00:16:36.710 --> 00:16:38.809
continue with your French. I continued. I did
00:16:38.809 --> 00:16:42.090
French with this tutor. And she was literally
00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:43.889
the person that pushed me to go to Rangitoto
00:16:43.889 --> 00:16:46.149
College because my parents tried. They were like,
00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:47.529
oh, you should go to Rangitoto. And I was like,
00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:49.309
you know, I don't want to stress out that much.
00:16:49.330 --> 00:16:52.409
It's too academic. And then my French tutor was
00:16:52.409 --> 00:16:54.309
like, hey, you do pretty well academically. You
00:16:54.309 --> 00:16:57.009
should try for Rangitoto. So she kind of like
00:16:57.009 --> 00:17:00.519
pushed me to go to Rangitoto. so thankful that
00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.840
she did um and then going to Rangitoto like I
00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:05.539
think it really gave me the opportunity to do
00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:09.000
better with everything um so yeah like if I never
00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.160
went to Manila to never study French I might
00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.799
have just stayed in Kingsway for until year 13
00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.119
and like my life would be quite different I would
00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:19.240
say I think yeah you learn a little bit you learn
00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.380
a little bit of everything throughout the journey
00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:24.339
can I ask you so do you speak French then yes
00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:28.430
I speak Yeah, like I can't say I'm professional,
00:17:28.609 --> 00:17:31.410
but like I would be able to survive in France
00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:34.450
for like a bit. You were saying your parents
00:17:34.450 --> 00:17:36.809
still have certain aspect of being Asian parents,
00:17:36.930 --> 00:17:39.349
which is they're trying to give you the best.
00:17:39.710 --> 00:17:42.569
opportunities to thrive and including wanting
00:17:42.569 --> 00:17:44.849
you to go to Rangitoto but once you're there
00:17:44.849 --> 00:17:46.630
they are not pushing you they're just allowing
00:17:46.630 --> 00:17:50.069
you to enjoy your experience and leave it to
00:17:50.069 --> 00:17:52.910
your own devices so that you grow from that which
00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:56.250
is not easy for many Asian parents because they
00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:59.130
you know sometimes want to insert certain type
00:17:59.130 --> 00:18:01.869
of control but you are saying your parents literally
00:18:01.869 --> 00:18:04.160
just say yeah, she's in the best environment
00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:06.440
now. We're just going to leave it to her and
00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:08.720
how she wants to manage that. Oh yeah, 100%.
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.319
I think like as a Christian for me, like faith
00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.519
did the important part. I think like personally,
00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.400
just for me having faith and for them having
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.500
faith as well, it really helped a lot because
00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:20.740
my mom was always like, oh, like God has a plan.
00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:23.960
You should just follow that. And like, no matter
00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:25.900
how well you plan your life, it's not going to
00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:27.720
be as good as God's plan. You know, like that's
00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.210
for us. That's how we like think about it. I
00:18:30.210 --> 00:18:32.490
think, yeah, so it's quite nice to have the faith
00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:35.890
aspect as well throughout high school. And definitely,
00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:38.369
I think it's helped me a lot as well. I think
00:18:38.369 --> 00:18:40.750
that's why I've always been quite optimistic
00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:43.089
with everything because I'm like, you know what?
00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:45.490
God has a plan. I'm going to do my best and the
00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:47.589
rest is in his hands. And if he wants me to get
00:18:47.589 --> 00:18:50.089
it, then yay, thank you. But if not, then I'm
00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:52.009
sure there's other pathways in life that I could
00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:55.150
go into. Absolutely. I know what you mean. Sometimes
00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:58.269
you can only do your best. Even though we have
00:18:58.269 --> 00:19:01.609
our personal desire, but if the God thinks there's
00:19:01.609 --> 00:19:03.970
a better pathway for you, it's not going to happen.
00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:05.650
There's nothing else you can do. You can only
00:19:05.650 --> 00:19:07.430
try your best, done your best. And then it's
00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:10.549
like, well, up to the guys who decide what to
00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:14.029
do. Yeah, 100%. So I think having a faith in
00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:16.789
our family did really help with the, I guess,
00:19:16.829 --> 00:19:19.029
parent and kid dynamic, like between me and my
00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:21.490
parents. You know, just like when we do get into
00:19:21.490 --> 00:19:23.269
arguments around what I should study, because
00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:26.490
I'm a very indecisive person. But I think at
00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:28.309
the end of the day, we'll give it to God because
00:19:28.309 --> 00:19:30.829
both like my parents and myself, we don't know
00:19:30.829 --> 00:19:32.690
what's best for the future. Like you don't really
00:19:32.690 --> 00:19:34.890
have that control because, you know, we're so
00:19:34.890 --> 00:19:38.190
small, let's be honest. So, yeah, so I think
00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:41.509
it really did help us a lot. Like me finding
00:19:41.509 --> 00:19:43.549
it, like going through high school and now uni
00:19:43.549 --> 00:19:46.109
and like communicating with my parents as well.
00:19:46.859 --> 00:19:48.619
allowed me to just like share everything with
00:19:48.619 --> 00:19:50.819
them because they won't judge they just listen
00:19:50.819 --> 00:19:53.519
and they just kind of they try to give me ideas
00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.200
which completely understand because you know
00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.680
parents but it's nice to be able to just share
00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.059
everything and they hear me complain about school
00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:02.859
all the time as well and you know when I graduated
00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:05.299
my parents are like oh my gosh so so thankful
00:20:05.299 --> 00:20:07.079
because now you can't complain about school anymore
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:09.519
now I'm a uni and I still complain to them about
00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.019
school so they still listen tell me a little
00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:14.259
bit more about your relationship with your parents
00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:16.859
because it sounds like you guys have a very good
00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.619
relationship I kind of share everything because
00:20:19.619 --> 00:20:21.519
I think being an only child you have your parents
00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.779
and your friends right but with friends aspect
00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:26.039
I don't like it's not like a sibling where you
00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.680
like see them 24 7 like friends we share stuff
00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:31.039
but like a lot of my friends moved away and I
00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:32.799
feel like with my parents they're quite like
00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.700
we always have dinner together so I think that's
00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:36.880
something that's very big in my family and during
00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:39.400
dinner I would sometimes share about my stress
00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.779
at school and especially a math class because
00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.160
I struggled a bit in year 12 math and it was
00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.440
not a really fun experience yeah so I think my
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.420
parents and I because we're the only people here
00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:54.480
like all of our families are still in China so
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.700
it's like brought us quite close and growing
00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:58.900
up I've always been quite a communicative person
00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:01.559
I would communicate problems to you now I still
00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:03.700
like talk to them about things and obviously
00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:06.579
we do get into arguments from time to time but
00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:10.299
overall it's pretty chill and I just like I still
00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:12.460
complain they just listen they get annoyed sometimes
00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:14.140
they're like oh my gosh you should stop complaining
00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:17.099
about uni because like they're like if you if
00:21:17.099 --> 00:21:19.140
you really hate it then you should quit but then
00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:21.890
I don't quit. I just continue to complain about
00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:25.690
it while I do it. So, yeah, it's a good relationship
00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:28.009
that we have. They even let you have the options
00:21:28.009 --> 00:21:32.109
to say that if you don't enjoy uni, just stop.
00:21:32.950 --> 00:21:35.130
No, my parents are like, literally, they're like,
00:21:35.269 --> 00:21:37.529
if you don't, like when I was in IB, like in
00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:39.230
the first term, I was quite stressed because
00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:42.650
I was quite behind, I would say. And I remember
00:21:42.650 --> 00:21:45.329
my dad was like, you just do NCEA instead. Like,
00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:48.180
why are you stressing? I feel like, I don't know,
00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:50.740
I was very determined to do it. So I was like,
00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.440
no, I got to go through it. So they had two more
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.220
years of complaints from me, but they were happy
00:21:56.220 --> 00:21:59.980
that I graduated. They're not very like pressuring.
00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:02.559
Like, obviously, I think they have their mindset
00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:04.519
on what they want me to do, but they're not very
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.480
like, you must do what we say. Like, they'll
00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.440
give me a suggestion and be like, hey, how about
00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:10.779
this? But they're not super like, you must listen
00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:13.400
to me sort of idea. So, yeah. I want to point
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.279
out, I'm not saying all Asian parents are like
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.809
that, but. to have asian parents and actually
00:22:17.809 --> 00:22:20.130
say that's truly that hard you don't have to
00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:23.230
do it it's not very often you know i think they
00:22:23.230 --> 00:22:25.509
always joke about like coming to new zealand
00:22:25.509 --> 00:22:27.829
and how new zealand is such a chill country compared
00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:30.109
to china and they're saying how we came here
00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:32.549
for you to not stress out too much yeah it's
00:22:32.549 --> 00:22:34.210
definitely like they went through all of the
00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:36.829
gaokao and everything in china so i'm sure they
00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:39.210
understand how stressful it was to you know have
00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:41.849
all the pressure from your parents from people
00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:43.930
around you and everything i'm really lucky to
00:22:43.930 --> 00:22:46.349
have really chill parents i would say because
00:22:46.349 --> 00:22:49.569
we i i was kind of raised in china and obviously
00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:52.589
they've been raised in china so it is hard i
00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:54.849
think for them not push all of the cultural stuff
00:22:54.849 --> 00:22:57.069
onto me as well so yeah thank you for sharing
00:22:57.069 --> 00:23:00.150
that so what i really want to focus on now is
00:23:00.150 --> 00:23:02.549
about the youth issues that we touch on what
00:23:02.549 --> 00:23:04.609
you have seen what you have witnessed some of
00:23:04.609 --> 00:23:06.390
the things that you heard i think i'll touch
00:23:06.390 --> 00:23:09.700
on the ones that i work around with and also
00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:11.819
I know a bit better because I feel like it's
00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:14.420
not not qualified enough to give advice on things
00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:17.500
I don't really do much around but I think for
00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:20.480
me it's definitely just like talking about I
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.740
guess my role as a youth attorney and an Auckland
00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:24.880
Council it's around youth engagement and empowerment
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:27.180
I would probably say that's something that we
00:23:27.690 --> 00:23:30.609
target a lot because last weekend I was at this
00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:33.529
youth civic retreat and we're talking about how
00:23:33.529 --> 00:23:37.390
only 29 % of people in general in Auckland voted
00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:40.670
for the council ward local board election, which
00:23:40.670 --> 00:23:43.789
is so little, like 29 % out of the whole population
00:23:43.789 --> 00:23:46.950
is tiny. And when we were talking about how much
00:23:46.950 --> 00:23:49.150
youth there are in Auckland, it's about a third
00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:51.589
of Auckland's population is people from zero
00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:55.680
to 24 or 25. You could see that youth is a growing
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.000
population and it's quite important that you
00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.460
know we have a focus on them. For me I think
00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:03.420
one of the issues is definitely the gap between
00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.880
opportunity and people who seek them. I was someone
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.079
who like naturally like researched about opportunities
00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:11.259
and things that I can do but I know a lot of
00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:13.240
people you do really have to present it to them
00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.039
for them to be interested you know you can't
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.779
wait for them to knock on the door but you have
00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:18.869
to knock on the door yourself. and to present
00:24:18.869 --> 00:24:22.349
that opportunity to them. So I personally, deep
00:24:22.349 --> 00:24:24.130
down my heart, I think everyone wants to get
00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:26.109
involved because, I mean, it's so fun to just
00:24:26.109 --> 00:24:29.470
meet new people, to hear about what others are
00:24:29.470 --> 00:24:32.450
doing as well. So bridging that gap between opportunity
00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:35.089
and young people, for example. I know social
00:24:35.089 --> 00:24:37.730
media is one of the main outlets that everyone
00:24:37.730 --> 00:24:40.470
kind of uses to market different events and everything.
00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:43.869
But there is also a lot of other layers of things
00:24:43.869 --> 00:24:45.990
that we do have to consider, like trust or...
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.720
Are they interested in this event? With that
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:51.619
said, you know, like finding a way to have a
00:24:51.619 --> 00:24:55.099
group of audience who is keen to join, but also
00:24:55.099 --> 00:24:57.680
being able to share this opportunity with other
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.440
people and make it seen by other people as well.
00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:02.150
So I think that's one of the cool things. cool
00:25:02.150 --> 00:25:04.970
things to I guess increase youth engagement but
00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:07.210
also I guess touching on the isolation aspect
00:25:07.210 --> 00:25:10.410
as well because for example with Unite last year
00:25:10.410 --> 00:25:12.210
which is the Devonport Takapuna Youth Council
00:25:12.210 --> 00:25:14.430
we did this event where we did sip and paint
00:25:14.430 --> 00:25:18.230
so we had like cute juices and then we did like
00:25:18.230 --> 00:25:21.309
art canvases and people were able to draw while
00:25:21.309 --> 00:25:23.690
they like drink on juice and like talk to people
00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:26.390
around them and we like mixed up the names so
00:25:26.390 --> 00:25:28.049
people had to sit next to someone they might
00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:30.500
not know and it was quite cool because allowed
00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:33.619
youth to come into a place where it's not a competition
00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:35.440
because you know you meet people during your
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:37.960
netball competitions or your math olympiad competitions
00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:39.799
or things like that but it was just like a place
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.000
where people across the shore can come together
00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:44.799
just have a discussion and so I think that's
00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.259
one of the things I always talk about is that
00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:49.720
gap between opportunities and the second thing
00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.160
I guess relating on to what I do for my with
00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:56.099
Auckland Council is the idea of relevance to
00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:57.859
youth. We always talk about, oh, we want to get
00:25:57.859 --> 00:26:00.519
more youth photos or we want to get more youth
00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:03.079
opinions on what we should do and things like
00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:05.519
that. But have you read like the local board
00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:08.119
plans in general? There are like 30 pages or
00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:11.660
50 pages and the wording is just, I wouldn't
00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:14.299
say it's complicated, but I mean, youth is from
00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:17.279
like, yeah, you know what I mean? They are totally
00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:21.319
crap. It's really long. English is so good. They
00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:24.160
just right forget about who the audience is supposed
00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:29.339
to be. Yeah, 100%. Let me say it's totally crap.
00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:32.339
They need to do better to understand. I understand.
00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:34.920
And also, I think it's the idea that, you know.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.200
maybe like 18 years old it's fine for them to
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.319
read but you have audiences from like 12 to 24
00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:43.559
because that's where rangatahi uncaptures so
00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:45.839
i think having these more being more accessible
00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.160
i know there's like easy reads and stuff but
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:50.640
i'm gonna be honest like at 12 years old they're
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.420
not gonna search it up easy read about local
00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:57.099
plan and i'd like do a whole survey on it as
00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:59.579
well i don't really have a solution to this but
00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:02.680
i feel like a way to make it more engaging make
00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:06.279
it more fun It is hard, especially, I feel like,
00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:08.880
especially with local board, like local board
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.720
ward and Auckland Council in general, because
00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.880
a lot of people don't really know what your local
00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:16.000
board is doing. Even though you're using their
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.579
work every single day, for example, like parks,
00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.059
the library and all of that, it is your local
00:27:21.059 --> 00:27:23.700
boards, what they work on, but people don't know
00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:26.220
about it. And I think that's like the low turnout
00:27:26.220 --> 00:27:28.000
rate in general, I feel like, but especially
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:31.339
with youth as well, like I don't, making things
00:27:31.339 --> 00:27:34.250
more engaging, but also. I think educating them,
00:27:34.309 --> 00:27:36.890
having something we talked about at the retreat
00:27:36.890 --> 00:27:40.529
was about civic education and, you know, and
00:27:40.529 --> 00:27:43.150
potentially like integrating things about the
00:27:43.150 --> 00:27:45.789
government, the vote, the local boards and how
00:27:45.789 --> 00:27:48.490
New Zealand's governance work and stuff into
00:27:48.490 --> 00:27:51.130
just your education in general, because it could
00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:53.569
be really helpful because as like an individual
00:27:53.569 --> 00:27:56.230
in a society, it is not your, I wouldn't say
00:27:56.230 --> 00:27:57.869
it's your obligation to vote, but it is your
00:27:57.869 --> 00:28:00.210
right to vote. So that's, I guess, one of the
00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:03.000
other things that. I would love to work on, but
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.200
I feel like it is hard to find a point to, you
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:08.279
know, I guess that's why like with Base Youth
00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:11.799
Council as well, we try to talk about, you know,
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:13.980
local board plans and making things easier for
00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:17.380
people to vote. It was Auckland Council consultation
00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:21.170
that we did. at summer spectacular where we had
00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:24.309
lollies and we like simplified what each kind
00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:26.509
of points were about and then a little kids come
00:28:26.509 --> 00:28:28.529
to like see what they are and like use a lolly
00:28:28.529 --> 00:28:31.009
to vote like i guess things like that makes a
00:28:31.009 --> 00:28:33.690
big difference it gives people an idea of what
00:28:33.690 --> 00:28:36.569
voting is and to realize that it's also not super
00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:39.109
scary because you know i guess when you turn
00:28:39.109 --> 00:28:42.180
18 everything kind of just get stomped onto you
00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:44.259
like I'm 18 at the moment and I feel like there's
00:28:44.259 --> 00:28:46.259
just so much to think about when you start a
00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:48.740
job you have to pay tax but there's also like
00:28:48.740 --> 00:28:50.140
when you have a student loan there's a different
00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:53.539
tax bracket and you get thrown into voting and
00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:55.119
like this year the voting is slightly different
00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.140
because you have to register to vote you can't
00:28:57.140 --> 00:28:58.920
just show up on the booth to vote you have to
00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:00.740
go through the online application to register
00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:04.819
to vote and you know like I think preparing youth
00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:08.019
at like a younger age to start thinking about
00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.369
all of these issues and not not just voting and
00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:12.470
not just government but in general like life
00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:15.809
and like things like financial um what are the
00:29:15.809 --> 00:29:17.769
financial education and things like that as well
00:29:17.769 --> 00:29:20.509
that would definitely support more people and
00:29:20.509 --> 00:29:23.029
help to empower more youth as they go into the
00:29:23.029 --> 00:29:25.930
stage of working or going to university and for
00:29:25.930 --> 00:29:28.410
me i'm in uni so i don't have to worry too much
00:29:28.410 --> 00:29:30.549
about work and stuff like that but i know a lot
00:29:30.549 --> 00:29:33.410
of people who's doing or who's doing part -time
00:29:33.410 --> 00:29:35.849
or full -time work after uni, the support around
00:29:35.849 --> 00:29:38.309
how to find a job, how to write your CV, how
00:29:38.309 --> 00:29:41.269
to just go to interview and how to actually answer
00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:43.609
interview questions would be so beneficial for
00:29:43.609 --> 00:29:46.049
youth. And it's like a relevant issue that we
00:29:46.049 --> 00:29:48.089
should work on. I like what you say because you're
00:29:48.089 --> 00:29:50.869
saying that the society assumes that just because
00:29:50.869 --> 00:29:53.069
someone's been through education system, then
00:29:53.069 --> 00:29:55.109
now they suddenly go to this bigger world, they
00:29:55.109 --> 00:29:58.029
know what to do. You say there's a big gap. Because
00:29:58.029 --> 00:30:00.910
what you study in a school is not necessarily
00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:04.019
The same when you walk into the biggest world.
00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:07.539
And there is no such thing as inclusivity to
00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:09.619
make sure that young people are being engaged
00:30:09.619 --> 00:30:12.240
and they understand their rights. You're not
00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.880
challenging about the system. You're challenging
00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:19.700
about as a society, as a whole. How do we truly
00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:22.039
engage with young people to let them know about
00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:24.339
their rights so that they can exercise their
00:30:24.339 --> 00:30:27.240
rights in the most effective way that will influence
00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.740
their life? Because they don't even have an opportunity
00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.420
to have say. Yet all these decisions have been
00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:37.519
made by adults for them. No, I think you're 100%.
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.119
I think it comes to that gap. It's like, you
00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:41.740
know, you see all of these places, they give
00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.059
your opinion. But firstly, the first barrier
00:30:44.059 --> 00:30:46.759
is youth maybe not. be able to find these things
00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:48.619
online, or maybe it doesn't come across their
00:30:48.619 --> 00:30:50.599
social media at all. And the second thing is
00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:53.079
that when they see it, they might not have the
00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:55.480
time or the energy to read through it or to answer
00:30:55.480 --> 00:30:58.579
all these questions. So I think not getting rid
00:30:58.579 --> 00:31:00.299
of these barriers, but try to minimize these
00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:02.259
barriers would be really awesome. I think as
00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:04.980
an immigrant, I know my Chinese is not the best,
00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:08.299
but I think something I would love to work on
00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:10.539
more is definitely immigrant youth. One of the
00:31:10.539 --> 00:31:12.240
things that you talked about on that day was
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:15.769
about the 1 .5 generation sort of idea. I completely
00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:18.490
agree. Like it's, it's a weird generation to
00:31:18.490 --> 00:31:21.490
be in. And I feel like I might've missed it by
00:31:21.490 --> 00:31:23.509
a little bit. I'm not too sure. Cause I feel
00:31:23.509 --> 00:31:25.190
like I did grow up in China a little bit, but
00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:27.450
I think it's that weird idea that your parents
00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:30.529
are very like Chinese or like Asian based cultures
00:31:30.529 --> 00:31:33.349
and you're kind of growing up in a Western society.
00:31:33.509 --> 00:31:36.490
And a lot of the ideology is like a hundred percent.
00:31:36.529 --> 00:31:39.210
I'm not going to lie. Like, for example, My parents
00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:40.910
are quite lenient around like what I do, but
00:31:40.910 --> 00:31:42.849
I know Asian parents are quite strict about what
00:31:42.849 --> 00:31:44.609
you should do. And I think Western parents are
00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:46.849
usually quite, you should do what you like. You
00:31:46.849 --> 00:31:48.869
shouldn't just listen to us and what you do as
00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:50.509
well. So that's why I'm kind of improving my
00:31:50.509 --> 00:31:52.809
Chinese. So hopefully I can support the ethnic
00:31:52.809 --> 00:31:55.509
community as well. That's a big passion of mine
00:31:55.509 --> 00:31:58.849
to work with ethnic youth because it's so cool
00:31:58.849 --> 00:32:01.250
to see. a lot of ethnic youth being involved.
00:32:01.410 --> 00:32:03.710
You know, there's ethnic people panel in the
00:32:03.710 --> 00:32:06.369
Auckland Council panels as well. But it would
00:32:06.369 --> 00:32:08.410
be cool to have more young people to be involved
00:32:08.410 --> 00:32:12.509
and to hear their voice because especially with
00:32:12.509 --> 00:32:15.529
these 1 .5 generation immigrants, they have so
00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:17.589
much to say. I feel like they have like a very
00:32:17.589 --> 00:32:19.150
different perspective from the first generation
00:32:19.150 --> 00:32:21.670
as well as the second generation. And it would
00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:23.950
be cool to share their voices too. Yeah. And
00:32:23.950 --> 00:32:27.470
to be like, you truly opened my eyes, you know,
00:32:27.509 --> 00:32:30.019
even though I've heard about many issues that
00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:32.359
has been mentioned by young people but how you
00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:35.400
describe it really just made me realize how much
00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:38.940
we're not creating a society where that inclusivity
00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:43.440
is truly seen by young people and thank you for
00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.200
sharing that that's really awesome yeah so what
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:50.380
would you say for any organizations being better
00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:52.819
engaged and empower young people in general I
00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:56.230
think it's hard to answer that question because
00:32:56.230 --> 00:32:58.490
i feel like every organization has what they
00:32:58.490 --> 00:33:01.009
do and like some organization definitely you
00:33:01.009 --> 00:33:03.730
know if you're working with older people or senior
00:33:03.730 --> 00:33:05.670
citizens it's hard to be like hey how do you
00:33:05.670 --> 00:33:08.130
engage with young people a general rule i would
00:33:08.130 --> 00:33:11.690
say is probably um if you're keen for a young
00:33:11.690 --> 00:33:14.410
voice like definitely reach out to schools or
00:33:14.410 --> 00:33:17.440
like youth organizations to I feel like coming
00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:19.799
as a youth intern is super cool, just like a
00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:23.460
youth representative in the organization. I feel
00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:26.359
like looking into a more like economic way, I
00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:28.559
would say it's a good opportunity for young people
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:31.279
to gain experience. And also it's a good opportunity
00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.559
for the organization to gain youth perspective.
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:37.900
I think internships are super cool. I know this
00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:39.920
is a very practical thing that people can do.
00:33:39.980 --> 00:33:41.599
And I'm not saying you should do this. It's just
00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:44.279
in my opinion. I think there's so many young
00:33:44.279 --> 00:33:46.039
people doing social work or things like that.
00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:48.559
Having internships with young people, I think
00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:51.160
brings a really cool view into the organization
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:54.160
and how they could be more youth focused. One
00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:56.460
of the other things I would say is that I feel
00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:58.839
like just trying to understand young people a
00:33:58.839 --> 00:34:01.480
bit more with organizations, especially I feel
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:02.859
like there's a lot of organizations just doing
00:34:02.859 --> 00:34:04.619
a lot of work with young people already. There
00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:07.519
is a lot of organizations who want to help young
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:09.920
people, who wants to support them, to empower
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:13.210
them. And I would just say like, bridge the gap
00:34:13.210 --> 00:34:15.429
i would say like if organizations wants a young
00:34:15.429 --> 00:34:17.429
member or wants to hear about youth perspective
00:34:17.429 --> 00:34:19.710
i think they have the reciprocal relationship
00:34:19.710 --> 00:34:21.989
where they provide some value to the young person
00:34:21.989 --> 00:34:24.550
or the young person also provides their like
00:34:24.550 --> 00:34:27.210
lived experiences and their perspectives into
00:34:27.210 --> 00:34:29.670
the organization it's beautiful what you say
00:34:29.670 --> 00:34:32.809
even just like creating that space for young
00:34:32.809 --> 00:34:35.510
people to have a voice and not creating something
00:34:35.510 --> 00:34:38.230
but using the existing platform whatever that
00:34:38.230 --> 00:34:40.389
they have and just consciously thinking about
00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:43.480
How do we allow young people to have a voice
00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:46.440
on this table, but it's also genuine and also
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:49.059
empowering, but it's still just tokenism as well.
00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:51.860
And because you were talking about ethnic space
00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:55.300
as well early on. So what have you seen as well
00:34:55.300 --> 00:34:58.000
in that ethnic space? Do you think there's enough
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:01.739
leadership in that ethnic space? young asians
00:35:01.739 --> 00:35:04.940
to be part of it i think the ethnic space from
00:35:04.940 --> 00:35:06.920
my perspective and also like living on the shore
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:08.880
i just want to like make sure my geographical
00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:12.420
location is relevant because yeah this is not
00:35:12.420 --> 00:35:15.239
on this side but i went to like the retreat i
00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:16.980
was talking about it was called we are over the
00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:19.360
weekend and a lot of the people from south of
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.260
auckland and east west as well and it was actually
00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:24.599
quite different like community is such a big
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:26.599
thing around the south but i feel like in the
00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:30.099
north a lot of the time you know people do A
00:35:30.099 --> 00:35:32.719
lot of the time, it's more like a value that
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:34.360
you're providing to the community and things
00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:37.320
like that. So I think geographical location does
00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:40.019
have an impact on how people do things and how
00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:44.659
organizations do things as well. With that said,
00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:47.519
I think there's so many different organizations
00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:50.940
that are doing things in the ethnic community
00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:54.059
and doing a lot of good things as well. But I
00:35:54.059 --> 00:35:56.119
feel like it would be cool to have like an ecosystem
00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:58.559
where they all have connections to each other.
00:35:59.659 --> 00:36:01.559
A lot of people are doing like individual things,
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:05.059
but once it's possible to connect everyone, I
00:36:05.059 --> 00:36:07.360
think it will be like a greater impact. That's
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:11.820
just where I'm coming from. And I think there's
00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:14.139
a lot more youth representation, especially young
00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:17.420
ethnic representation in the civics area, which
00:36:17.420 --> 00:36:20.380
I think is super cool. Like in the Upper Harbour
00:36:20.380 --> 00:36:23.940
Local Board, there's two young Asian women as
00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:26.639
their local board members. And I think that's
00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:28.380
super cool as well. And I think there's definitely
00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:31.480
more potential for more ethnic people to take
00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:35.219
leadership roles, whether just in ethnic -related
00:36:35.219 --> 00:36:38.239
organizations or more broader into local boards
00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:41.559
and even council -wise as well. But yeah, I think
00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:44.920
having an ecosystem would be such a cool thing
00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:47.980
to do. And I think that comes with a lot of other
00:36:47.980 --> 00:36:49.900
organizations as well. There's so many youth
00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:52.340
councils like that, but it would be cool to connect
00:36:52.340 --> 00:36:55.469
them and to have potentially like... summit or
00:36:55.469 --> 00:36:57.750
something each year for everyone to come together,
00:36:57.809 --> 00:36:59.550
to share what they've learned, to share what
00:36:59.550 --> 00:37:03.150
went wrong, what went right, and to just grow
00:37:03.150 --> 00:37:06.710
together and to, I guess, have that piece of
00:37:06.710 --> 00:37:08.769
this to everything that you do. Because, you
00:37:08.769 --> 00:37:11.110
know, I think when everyone comes together and
00:37:11.110 --> 00:37:13.909
when everyone shares what they learned, everyone
00:37:13.909 --> 00:37:16.130
can grow together. That's how I think about it.
00:37:16.210 --> 00:37:18.489
So no matter what age you are, you know, you
00:37:18.489 --> 00:37:20.670
can always do something, which is, I guess, that's
00:37:20.670 --> 00:37:22.489
the cool thing about life. You mentioned something
00:37:22.489 --> 00:37:24.469
which You're not the first person who say that.
00:37:24.550 --> 00:37:26.489
I also hear another young people who say the
00:37:26.489 --> 00:37:28.949
same thing. Rangitoto College have created a
00:37:28.949 --> 00:37:30.849
lot more opportunity for young people to participate
00:37:30.849 --> 00:37:33.429
because there's a lot going on in this space,
00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:37.710
but not all schools have. So how would you encourage
00:37:37.710 --> 00:37:41.510
young people if they have a passion? Where and
00:37:41.510 --> 00:37:43.570
how can they start? Because you spend so much
00:37:43.570 --> 00:37:46.050
time at school, it is where most of your information
00:37:46.050 --> 00:37:49.070
ends. where most of what you see comes from.
00:37:49.130 --> 00:37:51.449
But with that said, I think, especially if you're
00:37:51.449 --> 00:37:53.510
like at a school that's a bit limiting, internet
00:37:53.510 --> 00:37:55.309
is a great thing, you know, internet, social
00:37:55.309 --> 00:37:58.010
media. You can see like all the organizations,
00:37:58.190 --> 00:38:00.289
they post things on social media, they post things
00:38:00.289 --> 00:38:03.429
online. And it's quite cool if you have like
00:38:03.429 --> 00:38:05.110
an area that you're very interested in, you can
00:38:05.110 --> 00:38:07.269
always search it up and search up the organizations.
00:38:08.429 --> 00:38:11.090
what they do as well and i feel like one of the
00:38:11.090 --> 00:38:13.210
coolest thing is if you're young and you're passionate
00:38:13.210 --> 00:38:15.949
you could always flick a message or email or
00:38:15.949 --> 00:38:18.750
when you know a youth council youth council is
00:38:18.750 --> 00:38:22.710
recruiting you could apply for it and um i do
00:38:22.710 --> 00:38:26.110
i would say like it is still harder to find opportunities
00:38:26.110 --> 00:38:29.449
if you are in a more limited like environment
00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:32.110
but like if you really want to do something you
00:38:32.110 --> 00:38:35.429
would always be able to find that thing with
00:38:35.429 --> 00:38:37.849
that aspect or that focus that you want to focus
00:38:37.849 --> 00:38:40.889
on sort of idea so who has the biggest influence
00:38:40.889 --> 00:38:42.949
in your life like because you mentioned about
00:38:42.949 --> 00:38:45.670
teacher so i just wonder there must be someone
00:38:45.670 --> 00:38:48.889
had to make a big impact on you i think everyone
00:38:48.889 --> 00:38:51.409
has their own impact in my life i would say that
00:38:51.409 --> 00:38:54.130
way i think you know my french tutor honestly
00:38:54.130 --> 00:38:57.500
she's like my chinese mom in a way like she's
00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:00.059
amazing i love her to bits but my parents are
00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:02.059
like quite chill but she like she's the kind
00:39:02.059 --> 00:39:04.239
of person who pushes you but she knows kind of
00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:06.440
where your limit is but she thinks if you're
00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:08.519
not reaching your potential she will like push
00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:10.900
you so i think it's super incredible to have
00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:13.639
someone like that in your life and um with me
00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:16.039
as well like at school i think a lot of my teachers
00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:19.039
are just so incredible um to have so much passion
00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:23.809
to teach people to teach kids um I remember one
00:39:23.809 --> 00:39:25.989
of my teachers, like on the last day, I was giving
00:39:25.989 --> 00:39:28.130
him a gift to say thank you. And he was like,
00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:30.289
oh, like whatever you do in life, do something
00:39:30.289 --> 00:39:32.309
good or do something that has like a good social
00:39:32.309 --> 00:39:34.889
impact. And I was like, that's so inspiring,
00:39:34.989 --> 00:39:36.449
you know, like to hear that from your teachers,
00:39:36.469 --> 00:39:39.789
to see that they're at this job because they
00:39:39.789 --> 00:39:42.489
love working with people. They love like inspiring
00:39:42.489 --> 00:39:45.530
people. I just want to say this has been an amazing
00:39:45.530 --> 00:39:47.989
conversation and I'm learning so much from you.
00:39:48.110 --> 00:39:51.030
The final questions I have is if you can go back
00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:54.480
to... the age that you've chosen of your younger
00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:57.320
self what advice would you give to yourself I
00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:00.639
think don't regret advice I'll give to myself
00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:04.699
I think for myself I've always been like I overthink
00:40:04.699 --> 00:40:07.019
too much it's good and it's bad because like
00:40:07.019 --> 00:40:08.840
I overthink but then I make rational decisions
00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:11.340
which is good but also I think when you overthink
00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:13.900
kind of like you're afraid to do things like
00:40:13.900 --> 00:40:15.659
when you overthink you think about the opportunity
00:40:15.659 --> 00:40:17.820
cost you think about the consequences in general
00:40:17.820 --> 00:40:20.059
we often tend to catastrophize things rather
00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:23.099
than thinking of the good outcome. And I think
00:40:23.099 --> 00:40:25.300
it's rational, you know, like you can't go into
00:40:25.300 --> 00:40:27.460
something blindly. But once you make a decision,
00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:29.340
don't regret it. That's something I always like
00:40:29.340 --> 00:40:31.460
try to tell myself. I forgot the author of this
00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:33.500
book, but it's called Letters to a Young Poet,
00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:36.260
I think. And one of the quote is to live the
00:40:36.260 --> 00:40:38.699
questions. And I love that quote so much because,
00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:41.679
you know, in life, you've got to really live
00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:44.639
it. You can't just be like, I kind of want to
00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.300
do this. I want to do that, but not really doing
00:40:46.300 --> 00:40:48.059
anything about it. I think, yeah, like don't
00:40:48.059 --> 00:40:49.820
regret on things. Like you'll make mistakes.
00:40:50.529 --> 00:40:52.730
mistakes you learn from them i guess we're too
00:40:52.730 --> 00:40:55.190
it's hard to fully understand the bigger picture
00:40:55.190 --> 00:40:59.909
sometimes um for me i think like if i tell my
00:40:59.909 --> 00:41:02.230
younger self is made a decision just be happy
00:41:02.230 --> 00:41:04.610
happy with it like it might be a wrong decision
00:41:04.610 --> 00:41:06.630
might be a right decision if it's wrong you know
00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:08.130
you might stop halfway you might do something
00:41:08.130 --> 00:41:10.590
else but at the end of the day it's going to
00:41:10.590 --> 00:41:12.969
be okay and you'll learn from it either way like
00:41:12.969 --> 00:41:15.389
you might learn some painful lessons you might
00:41:15.389 --> 00:41:18.710
learn some good things and yeah it'll It'll be
00:41:18.710 --> 00:41:21.110
okay, I think. That's how I would put it. Thank
00:41:21.110 --> 00:41:23.010
you, Rachel. I just want to say thanks again
00:41:23.010 --> 00:41:25.829
and I really enjoyed our conversation. Thank
00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:27.789
you. And I just want to thank you for the opportunity.
00:41:28.030 --> 00:41:30.130
All the best as well. Thank you, Rachel.