Student leader Aimee Lewis is having to quickly find her feet when it comes to her new role.
Being a student leader has been something Aimee’s wanted to do for quite a while. Even as a junior, she felt it looked like an interesting job, and was something she’d like to do when she was given the chance. After a few teachers urged her to, she decided to just “go for it”.
Student leaders meet with Mr Wilson on a weekly basis, show people around the school, run assemblies every now and then, organise various school committees, and are the first go-to when something needs to be done. However, despite the numerous responsibilities, Aimee is really enjoying her role and settling in well.
Aimee describes the position as one which requires a lot of on-the-spot thinking, and the ability to adapt to new challenges. She often doesn’t have a lot of notice or preparation when it comes to her tasks, and needs to think swiftly. “We had a photo-shoot one time, and no one really knew what to do,” she recounted. “We had to go get changed into our blazers – we didn’t even have blazers, we had to use the choir uniforms!”
The keen sportswoman has been a player on the Nayland Senior A netball team for the past two years, playing centre and wing-attack. She describes herself as “quite competitive”, as is evident in her account of last year’s final against Prices. “We coulda beat them, it was pretty annoying,” she said. She was also a player in the Under 17s Nelson Netball Reps team, competing with other teams around the Top of the South and the North Island.
Though Aimee says she takes netball pretty seriously, she’s not trying to make a career out of it. “It’s probably just a hobby”, she said. “I want to go to uni next year”. Aimee plans to study psychology at Victoria University in Wellington.
Aimee has one younger brother, a Year 9 student this year. Her advice to him and other younger students is to be true to yourself. “Just do you”. Over the years, I’ve had my friend group, and we’ve been tight, but just stay focused on what you want to do, don’t worry over what other people are doing”. Individual-player advice from a team-spirited leader.
By student reporter Maya Jayasena
