Investing in Our Future
Monday evening provided two examples of the good that Rotary can achieve. Two very impressive guest speakers explained how Rotary has helped them.
Lucy Taylor, a year 11 student at Naenae College attended the "Innovative Young Minds" holiday course run with the assistance of Rotary. Speaking entirely without notes she gave a most impressive account of the activities on the course, including visits to engineering firms, Victoria University Physics and Ecology Laboratories, and Callaghan Innovation.
She met PHD students at Weltec and Health Scientists at Massey, she learned about 3D printing, cancer treatments, and the work at NIWA. She especially enjoyed talking to women scientists who really enjoyed their jobs, though they admitted that when they left school they had been unsure of what they wanted to do.
Lucy's special interest is in using renewable energy sources to improve ecology. She hopes to study Natural Resources and Engineering at Canterbury University.
Olivia Krakosky is a former student of Naenae College. After gaining a B.A. and LLB she took the opportunity to take an unpaid three-month internship at the United Nations. When Eastern Hutt Rotary heard of this during Jay's year of presidency, the club donated $1500 to help make the internship possible for Olivia.
Olivia spoke of how that has helped her achieve a stellar career working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT), and what she has been doing while there. She has assisted in the successful attempt to gain a seat for New Zealand on the Security Council, over competition from Turkey and Spain; helped in Helen Clark's attempt to become Secretary-General; worked as legal advisor for MFAT in negotiating treaties with Pacific countries; worked as an exchange-officer with Australia where she was involved in climate change issues; worked on developing trans-Tasman travel until Delta abruptly put a stop to that; worked on the trade negotiations with UK and Europe, and is currently working on NZ's hosting of a virtual APEC conference.
Ultimately Olivia would like an overseas posting, preferably involving development work in Pacific Islands. (Since her talk to Rotary on Monday, a very impressive trade deal with UK was announced).