Thank God for another beautiful day! Yesterday at work it was announced that we are having annual/biennial symposiums to highlight the research/rangahau (Maori principled research) that is occurring in our 'spaces' as teachers/academics/researchers/students etc.
I'm so looking forward to sharing about the various parts of my journey as a mum, storyteller, publisher, writer, academic, artist etc. and I thank God for these various skills that I've been gifted with and being able to share with others.
I remember that as a youngin', I was very shy and didn't like to talk at all in class. I'd cower if I had a teacher who'd ask questions to the class as I wasn't very self confident although I often did know the answer. Much has changed since those childhood days and the self confidence shined as I began to succeed in my academic journey in high school and into university.
But it wasn't until I became a high school teacher that I was able to overcome my fear of public speaking. I remember having to stand in front of a class in my early days of teaching and realising that this would have to be an every day occurrence and quite quickly over time I began to get used to the idea of talking publicly with classes and then eventually became a Dean and had to speak to large groups of students and teachers.
Since then, having worked in different forums i.e. the Ministry of Education, University of Auckland, Te Wananga o Aotearoa and more recently in book launches etc. I've become more confident in speaking publicly about things that I care for and am passionate about.
I look forward to sythesizing my thoughts in the theme of this year's symposium and reflecting on some of the learnings that I'll have made by November thus far. It's a chance to not only reflect but to hear other people's perspectives and ideas. I'm also looking forward to writing a poem for the time and to share it with the audience. November, here we come...
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