Luke and the Aspire Programme

Last year in the months of September and August 2022, I participated in the Aspire Programme through the Social Impact Studio. We buddied up with year 7 and 8 students from local schools in Dunedin, and each week would participate in an activity with them around campus. These students were hand-selected by their teachers, often because they were over or under-challenged in school and therefore at risk of disengaging with learning. Spending time with these kids was a special experience because we got to focus purely on how enjoyable learning can be.

One of my favorite parts of the Aspire Programme was watching the kids have their eyes opened to the huge diversity of topics they can learn about. In my experience with education, I have often felt disconnected or disinterested in the content I am learning about and focused purely on getting the grade I wanted. This mentality followed me into my first year of university, and I found myself struggling to enjoy the papers I was taking.

Not long before participating in the Aspire programme, I decided to challenge this mindset and take the leap to switch courses and study something I truly enjoyed, even if I found it much more difficult. Coming into Aspire, I also wanted to share this new perspective on learning with my buddy. Throughout the eight weeks, my buddy and I tried things that were new for both of us, from traditional Japanese drumming to guessing smells in a food science lab. It was so much fun and a valuable confirmation for me that learning should not only be about the necessary skills required to succeed in life but also about what makes you passionate and gives you purpose.

I was truly sad when our time with our buddies came to end. In getting to know these kids I saw that all of them were extremely intelligent and unique individuals. My hope is that through this programme, we showed them that they have the potential to do whatever they set their minds to - and that they should always follow their passions even if the path is more difficult or unconventional.