Recently, the four captains from St Patrick’s Catholic School at Asquith attended the National Young Leaders Day at Darling Harbour. The children were able to listen to a number of impressive speakers including John Coultis, Lauren Cheatle, Harrison Craig and Matt Cosgrove. Each speaker told their individual stories of the challenges they faced and who inspired them to become the people they are today. One of the speakers, John Coultis has significant disabilities and faced numerous challenges throughout his life. He told the audience (of about four thousand students, parents and teachers) to ‘never turn your back on a challenge’ and importantly, to ‘treat people the way you wish to be treated’. Having been bullied for much of his early years, he offered advice to all the children present, being that you ‘can’t stop bullying but you need to learn to handle it and learn resilience’. Matt Cosgrove is a writer and couldn’t find a publisher, but didn’t give up and is now a successful writer. Harrison Craig, formerly a contestant on ‘The Voice’ faced his own challenges with a significant stutter. He talked about his dreams and gave the advice that ‘no matter what your hurdles are, you can learn to overcome them’.
Pictured are the four school captains with John Coutis.
