Newsmaker: Sylvia Song
This week's Newsmaker is Sylvia Song, a Western Heights High School student who has been helping raise awareness about the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped last month by terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a high school student who was born in Rotorua. I lived in Korea for a short period of time when I was little, but then I decided to come back to New Zealand by myself to study English.
I have one brother who is currently studying at Otago University in Dunedin, and I am living with my parents and my grandmother.
Tell us a bit about what you've been doing with ribbon day to raise awareness about the Nigerian schoolgirls?
The ribbon day went great. It was a huge success. I was so surprised with the amount of students and teachers wearing the ribbons and supporting the Bring Back Our Girls campaign.
It wasn't my idea after all, our secretary Amy Moon suggested it to me and I thought it was a fantastic idea so I connected myself with the other students from all over New Zealand who were organising the campaign and I was able to get a lot of help from them, and without their advice and support, I wouldn't have been able to be part of this.
You were chosen to attend a UNICEF congress last year, tell us about that?
I was chosen to attend the UNICEF congress last year during the school holidays, and it was definitely one of the best experiences.
I was honoured to be selected to represent Western Heights High School and Rotorua as one of 44 students from all over New Zealand. I still can't forget the fun but educational workshops, seminars I got to attend to and the group of amazingly talented girls and boys I had the opportunity to meet.
UNICEF allowed us to gain knowledge from real experiences rather than from books.
What motivated you to get involved with human rights/humanitarian issues?
My interest towards humanitarian issues gradually increased, it wasn't something that just came to me one day.
When I joined Trade Aid three years ago, the manager taught me a lot about what Trade Aid was doing for the underprivileged ones. I was astonished with the differences Trade Aid was making by providing jobs and supporting global partners to increase the production and quality of their products.
I really enjoy working there because everyone is so friendly and it makes me feel good that I'm making good use of my Saturdays. Also the encouragement from the volunteers at Trade Aid, friends and our Korean Church family always pushed me to try new things.
When you're not studying or volunteering, what do you do?
If I'm not at school, I'm usually working up at Skyline as a waitress or helping out in the cafe.
I got my barista qualification recently so I'm sure that will come in handy soon. Also, I used to be part of a hip hop group where I spent most weekdays practicing with a group of friends for a regional hip hop competition or just for fun.
What are your aspirations for the future?
I get asked this question so many times every week as I'm Year 13 this year and I'm supposed to be planning the next step of my life.
I have many aspirations for my future at the moment, but because I'm an indecisive person, I like to keep it broad and keep my options open.
I can share that one of my many aspirations is to hopefully pursue a medical pathway later in life and hopefully get the chance to work for my home country, Korea, but for next year, I'm still quite unsure of where I will be.