High achieving young speaker
St Kilda Road Year 10 student, Clementine Girard-Foley, was recently awarded the runner up prize at the United Nations Youth Voice Public Speaking state final and, as a result, will now progress to the national competition to be held in Sydney in April 2015. Held at The University of Melbourne, Clementine was required to prepare a five minute speech on her chosen topic What can we do to reduce the 12 year life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? She proposed a solution to the judges and was then asked two impromptu questions.
Clementine relished the opportunity to find out more about Indigenous health issues, as she had recently visited the Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School, and was keen to better understand the challenges facing Indigenous communities in Australia.
This was the first public speaking competition that she has entered and she says, “The experience has motivated me to take advantage of similar opportunities in the future”. Clementine will also be travelling to the United States in July 2015, to participate in the Young Global Leaders Conference, to be held in New York and Washington. The 16-year-old is thrilled to be participating in both events and is excited to have the opportunity to meet other high achieving students and global leaders next year.
Clementine is an International Relations Society leader, a member of the debating team and also a keen pianist and member of the pop choir. She hopes to study law at university and then work as a diplomat or in international relations.
Wesley College congratulates Clementine on a fantastic achievement. We encourage her to continue to aim high in the future.
April 2015 Update
Now in Year 11, Clementine continued to excel at the United Nations Youth Voice Public Speaking competition, successfully advancing to the Australian grand final. Presenting her speech in the New South Wales Parliament recently, Clementine related her topic, How can we make Australia more just, to homelessness.
Well done Clementine!
