On Wednesday 22 February, four student representatives from QAHS for the Gold Coast Junior Council attended their first meeting of the year at HOTA. Although it was the second year for me and Dante Pellegrino, it was the first meeting for newly elected Year 10 students, Yanyan Zhang and Rihanna Patel. The meeting began with us engaging and interacting with other school representatives from other schools, which was especially valuable to me and Dante as we got the opportunity to catch up with some friends we made from last year's meetings. The meeting then followed with the official handover from the 2022 Executive Committee to the 2023 Executive Committee, as well as the announcement of the Deputy Junior Mayor and Junior Mayor. It was very exciting to see the new executive team members in the chambers, and I personally enjoyed the inspirational speeches made by both the 2022 Junior Mayor, QAHS Year 12 student Samuel Brown, and the 2023 Junior Mayor. The mayor, His Worship Tom Tate, shared his views of the value of youth representation on the Gold Coast, as well as the importance of leadership.
One of the highlights in the meeting was when we had the opportunity to get to know the new Year 10 student representatives through a 'Get to know each other' bingo game. I realised the difference this activity made to our table group in terms of communication, enthusiasm, and engagement. Through exchanging laughs and getting to know each other beyond a simple greeting or name exchange, we were able to foster a sense of trust and mutual respect, which in turn improved overall communication when we continued with more activities and discussions. This taught me the importance of meaningful social interactions to further unity and common understanding within a group. The QAHS Gold Coast Junior Council team for 2023 thoroughly enjoyed our first meeting of the year together and were proud to see our Junior Mayor, Sam, as well as Executive Committee Member Year 12 QAHS student, Mathilda Bester, farewelled as they handed over their positions. We look forward to meetings to come this year as we will continue to learn about our local government, expand on our communication and leadership skills and have a voice in problem-solving current community issues.
Genevieve Chakuthip
Year 11 Gold Coast Junior Council representative