Newsmaker: Moerangi Vercoe

This week's Newsmaker is Moerangi Vercoe, the head girl at Rotorua Girls' High School, who is looking forward to being able to cast her vote at the next election.

Tell us a bit about yourself?
I come from a family of 5 children and two loving parents. Last year there were 11 people living at my house! (Myself and 4 siblings, my mum, my sister's partner and her 4 kids) which made things crazy at times but I loved it! I absolutely love big families.
I love helping people wherever possible and love to be involved in as much as I can, except this year where I have had to reduce my schedule so I don't burn myself out too much.

I am born and breed in Rotorua, however my family and I did live in Otaki for a year or two when I was around 2 years old. This is where I grew up and no matter where I go and how happy I may be to leave at times, I always find myself longing to come back.

Tell us a bit about what you've been doing as head girl?
This year has been crazy for me but I have loved every minute of it! I love speaking and 29-08-2014 15:39:13working with a range of people, which has been a big part of my role this year as Head Girl.
I have had the privilege of going into Rotorua Intermediate to speak to them about my journey at their school and my journey since then. I have worked with the prefects at Rotorua Intermediate along side my fellow prefects at Rotorua Girls' High and the prefects at our brother school, Rotorua Boys' High to pass on what we know as current leaders to those future leaders that have been recognized (that does not mean to say those who haven't been recognized as a prefect aren't leaders! Everyone is a leader in their own way).
As well as speaking to younger leaders I have also spoke to those older than me and my peers. Although a lot of my role involves speaking and attending meetings/conferences I have also learnt a lot from being around others and listening to what they have to say, which I think comes as a bonus to being Head Girl.

A part from that, one thing I love about being head girl is seeing girls excel at areas in their life. I am like a proud mum when I hear of exciting things they do and achieve. It humbles me and gives me great honor to represent such outstanding young ladies.

You're looking forward to being able to vote, why do you think it's important for young people like yourself to vote?
Yes! I have been looking forward to turning 18 for that very reason. Although I miss voting in the elections this year that does not stop me from wanting to encourage others to have their voice be heard in government.

I believe it is important for us as young people to vote as we are the leaders of tomorrow and as a democracy it is everyone's right to have their voice be heard. Some countries to this day are not able to vote and there are restrictions to those who can. There are people around the world who have taken bullets to get an education to vote whereas we're taking this privilege for granted.

I see many Facebook statuses and tweets about how much some people may not like the government so by voting that is a way of bringing those Facebook updates to life. Your vote, my future vote, our vote is all the same as those in parliament, those running for positions that depend on the people for their seat. However, in saying that one thing I do notice as a teenager is that we are not educated enough in politics and what goes on in our government. We are encouraged to vote yet some do not know what they are voting for or what there is to vote for. If we are to get young people to vote we must educate them because I believe where there is more understanding there is more outcome.

What do you think are some of the key issues youth in Rotorua are facing?
As I read this question I had an idea of what I think a few of the main issues in our youth are but figured an answer from some of the youth would be more appropriate. I embraced the positive side to social media and made a Facebook status asking what they think the main issues are, and as expected their answers were the same. Main problems, as well as others are mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. A lot of teens are feeling insecure, emotionally unstable, have excessive uneasiness and simply feel they are not enough for society.

Thousands of teens have such an overwhelming amount of sadness that they feel hurting themselves or taking their life will be the only way out. There can be further research done to point out individual reasons as to why this is happening, however, I am aware and so are many others that this not only a current main issue but it is an increasing problem amongst our youth. Another main issue is the intake of excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs. Our youth are becoming more and more exposed to this behaviour through the Internet and television that is almost being seen as acceptable to go out and get trashed and do drugs for no reason. Violence and criminal offenses are also a problem amongst our youth, especially when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Our youth are becoming a generation of reactors instead of being proactive. We are reacting to changes instead of making the change and making sure it's positive. Another problem is truancy in school.

Many teenagers dread having to come to school, not just because they would rather not make that commitment on a Monday morning but also because they work better at home in an environment where they feel comfortable and there is no real pressure or stress. School is becoming a place where we feel getting high grades is becoming more important than actually learning. These are just a few main issues that myself and those who contributed to my status came up with, however, I believe a more important question to ask and think about is 'What are we doing to help these issues, or what can we do?'.

When you're not studying what do you do in your free time?
When I'm not studying I'm usually doing something else such as sports, speaking, attending events or helping my mum with the kids, however, when I do get free time I often like to spend it with my family.

My life tends to get hectic now and then and when I do get some down time they're the people I like to spend it with. As well as that I love being with friends and playing basketball. One of my favourite things to so in my free time is go for little walks places, explore new things and take photos. Photography is one of my favourite hobbies and time consumers.

What are your aspirations for the future?
I have a lot of things I want to do and achieve in the future but for now I do have one main focus, I plan to go to University to study to become a doctor. At first I wanted to go to third world countries and help give aid to those in need of medical care that can't necessarily afford it, however, I then realized we have a growing poverty of our own here in New Zealand. My main aspiration for the future is to help those struggling families, especially those with young children and hopefully get others a long board to start a clinic where these financially struggling families can come to get medical care but also feel comfortable. However, that is a long way yet so my main focus for the time being is University.

What's your favourite thing about Rotorua?
Rotorua has a large sense of community, which is what I love most about it. It's not so big that you have to drive for a significant amount of time to get to your friends house but it's also not so small that you get congested and know everyone. I love the scenery and the natural beauties Rotorua has to offer such as the Redwoods and Whakarewarewa village. Apart from that we have many beautiful lakes surrounding us and we're 35 minutes minimum away from beautiful beaches as well.

Tell us three things about yourself most people wouldn't know?
As lame as it sounds I like to take myself on dates now and then, whether it be to the movies or to get ice cream or go for a walk and take photos of random things. I am very content with myself and enjoy my own company, it gives me a good time to gather what things might be on my mind and relax.
I wish I could sing (in tune) so bad! If I could I would not stop singing, not that I don't sing all the time already but that would make people actually want to listen rather than being forced to because I won't stop.
I have a YouTube channel that I am working on and currently have one video already up, which I am quite excited about.