Written by Arna Metcalfe, English Teacher, Marcellin College
The Powhiri that called us to Retreat One of The NZ Leadership Programme featured the challenge to bring both the light and dark, the strengths and the weaknesses within us. This was a powerful wero laid down before our Class of 2020.
In one of my lives (as a teacher) there’s a writing exercise I often do with students based on a short story in a collection by Tim O’Brien. O’Brien writes of the things carried by men during the Vietnam war, from the concrete to the abstract. This is a good starting point for writing, as well as a good reflective technique in that we can examine some of the assumptions, ideas, worldviews and influences that live inside us and we carry with us wherever we go.
I imagine myself walking in with the things that I carry, wondering what other people on the course are carrying. Having received a scholarship to be on the Programme, I carry the weight of that, both light and heavy. I carry the knowledge that I am here because others saw my value, and the value that I can bring to my organisation (in another life) - the National Council of Women Aotearoa New Zealand (NCWNZ). I carry the knowledge that I want to live up to this.
I carry the joy of my parents. I carry the annoyance of my children. I carry the scent of my husband’s arms around me, but I imagine this year he’s probably going to be carrying me. I carry my fear of not being enough, the worry. I carry worry and anxiety and hope and optimism. I carry the voices of my friends in my ears. I carry the dreams of the women that have gone before me and papery cheek cuddles from my NCWNZ grandmothers. I carry their advice and awhi and love. I carry the doubts and concerns and the words which live in all of us and try to remind us that we need to know our place.
We know that we are here for some abstraction, which may by the end of the year become concrete action. I wonder what we will be carrying at the end of the year and what we will have left behind. I know we are up for the challenge.
Did Arna’s story resonate with you? This is one of many courageous, enriching and impactful journeys on The NZ Leadership Programme.
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