Speaker Questions
If you filled out the ‘My Questions’ page at the back of your student notebook you may find your answer here! These are questions asked by students and answered by our speakers after the event.
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ADAM HALL
JAMIE FITZGERALD
DAVE ATKINSON
PAT LAM
ALLISON MOONEY
TU & SERENA
PAT BUCKLEY
DR CRAIG NEVILL-MANNING
ROB HARLEY
ZANE SCARBOROUGH
MAI CHEN
GLENN MARTIN
JEHAN CASINADER
Primary/Intermediate Event Questions
ADAM HALL
Who was your hero when you were younger?
I never really had a hero growing up. I always wanted to be that person for others to look up to. Though when I was skiing I did want to be like other NZ disabled skiers one day and be like them. Wining on the world stage.
did your disability affect your dream in any way?
My disability never affected my dream. I never seen it as a negative thing and was something I tried to always be positive about. It some ways it probably helped me as I was able to make things that seemed negative into a positive.
How do you feel before a race?
If I have done all the right preparation for my race and trained to my best ability then I feel full of confidence. Really excited and of course a little adrenaline in there somewhere.
What motivates you?
Being able to do something that I am really good at which gives me the opportunity to represent our country is one of many ways which I get motivated. Also to be able to push the limits everyday and to show others to never give up on their dreams. I love the training. I love the competition and wanting to be the best in the world are all things which motivate me.
What was the best advice and why?
I have been given a lot of advice during my time as an athlete and the best advice I have been given would be that “Practice makes Permanent”
JAMIE FITZGERALD
Who was your inspiration when you were young?
What is your motivation?
What was the most interesting part of walking to the south pole?
Did you ever want to give up? What did you do about it?
DAVE ATKINSON
Who encouraged you to get into the career that you’re in?
What was your childhood dream?
Did you get pressured at high school? How did you deal with it?
Have you wanted to be someone else?
Do you think you have the X-factor?
Why do you believe that leadership is so important?
PAT LAM
Tough times:
Biggest Achievement:
Best thing about being part of the Blues:
Hardest thing:
People’s uninformed negative views about the team or individuals especially from some media
Moment I’ll always remember:
As a Coach:
ALLISON MOONEY
What is the most popular animal in people?
What was your favourite part of writing the book?
When did you discover that speaking was your passion?
TU & SERENA
How did you build up the confidence to do what you do?
What was the most embrassing thing that happened on What Now?
If you weren’t a tv personality – what would you do?
Were you leaders at your school?
PAT BUCKLEY
How do you get courage to ask for help when you need it?
How does it feel to do what you do?
Do you think music is an influence to the abuse of drugs. eg. Rap
Have you always wanted to be a ambulance person?
What qualifications do you have?
What is the one thing that satisfies you and makes you think you have made the most out of your life?
If you were told the stuff that you told us today when you were young, do you still think you would’ve gotten into drugs/alcohol?
How do you help someone who knows the effects but they don’t care?
What do you consider success to be?
How did you know and decide you wanted to change?
When you made the decision to quit drugs- did your old friends follow the same path and how did it affect them?
Why do you believe that leadership is so important?
DR CRAIG NEVILL-MANNING
With the 20% free time how do you get people motivated to get their creative juices flowing?
Creativity feeds on others’ creativity – once you get the virtuous cycle started, people compete to be productive. It’s also important to have an outlet for the things that people build. Google Labs provides that – I built one of the first three prototypes on Google Labs: now there are many more: http://www.googlelabs.com/
How do you develop ideas/inspiration?
I think the key is to pay attention to what you find annoying, frustrating, boring, slow, and fix for that – lots of other people probably have the same frustrations!
How did you get the amazing opportunity to work at Google?
I kept saying yes to increasingly interesting opportunities: to work with a great lecturer at the University of Canterbury (Tim Bell) on a year-long project. Then yes to traveling to Calgary to visit a professor there (Ian Witten) with the Tim Bell. Then yes to move to Waikato University to do a PhD with Ian Witten. Then yes to visiting Calgary for 6 months, then conferences in the US, where I met Doug Brutlag, a professor at Stanford University in California. I said yes when he invited me to do a post-doctoral fellowship with him. I met Larry and Sergey, the founders of Google, when they were at Stanford. Three years later, I said yes to joining them at Google!
What/Where did you study?
B.Sc. in Computer Science at University of Canterbury
Ph.D. in Computer Science at University of Waikato
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Computational Biology at Stanford University
Who is your role model?
Ian Witten – Computer Science professor at the University of Waikato – world-class researcher, and super-generous with his time
What is life in America like compared to NZ? How do you balance lifestyle?
It’s way busier and more complicated than New Zealand. It took a couple of years to adjust – even to California! People take themselves much more seriously in the US – often, that’s a good thing, because people hold themselves to a high standard. Being successful is seen as a good thing – people don’t get jealous, they strive to be successful as well. You do have to keep a balance in life – but people take that seriously as well. If you organize your life carefully, you can have plenty of time to relax, as well as time to work hard.
Who designs the google sign on the website?
There are a whole team now of “Doodlers” who come up with ideas (and the ideas come from all kinds of other people at Google too): http://www.google.com/logos/
ROB HARLEY
How do you solve the problem of bullying when students are surrounded by gang culture everyday of their lives?
This is a hard one. I can only suggest that you form strong bonds within the school environment with other kids that are prepared to stand up and say that bullying is unacceptable. I think gangs rely on intimidation and fear. Making a stand against bullying takes courage, but it’s easier if you have others around you. Any idea that builds into a movement takes time to take hold, and there will be setbacks. But be brave. Some of the bullies who hang around the fringes of gangs are often just scared kids looking for meaningful friendships. Maybe it just takes someone to show them a better way.
How do you end this vicious disease? Are our voices strong enough?
The voice of youth is the most important voice in the bullying issue. This is an issue of your generation and you need to own it. Once young people start saying “not on my campus” – to bullying, this is a movement that will really start to take hold. Join forces with like minded people. You have the energy. As the Nike ad says, “just do it!”
What hurdles did you have to overcome to get to where you are today?
I was shy and thought people were laughing at me when I spoke up. I came to realise that public speaking was something I was actually quite good at doing. I could make people laugh and I could inspire people. I wasn’t great at sports, but that didn’t matter in the end because I found the things I was good at and majored on that.
What’s your favourite part of your job and why?
The favourite part for me is that I get to meet some people who are at a crisis point in their life – whether that be a sickness, a setback or suffering a loss. Many of these people teach me how to get past what I call the “quitting points” in life and I can take those lessons and teach them to others. Ordinary people are life’s best teachers.
What change would you like to see in our generation?
I would like to see young people really believing they can make a difference. Too many youth have effectively been told that the best way to live is to please yourself first and go chasing all the toys life has to offer. Getting stuff doesn’t really make you happy. Making a difference in the world is much more likely to give you satisfaction.
How do you find out about these inspiring people that you tell your stories about?
I feel very lucky to meet them. You realise that no hero is 100 percent perfect. Heroes are ordinary people who choose to live extraordinary lives.
ZANE SCARBOROUGH
If you had to choose one thing you regret most, what would it be?
How do we get Attitude to come to our school?
Email me at zane.scarborough@attitude.org.nz! I will pass your request on to a presenter looking after your region and see what they can do.
How and why did you get involved with attitude?
It can take a long time to figure out what you should do for a job but focusing on what you enjoy and what you are good at is a great place to start. After leaving high school I figured out three things about me: 1. I like to be on stage 2. I like talking 3. I like helping other people. That sounds really simplistic but I became an Attitude presenter because the job had all of the three things I love in it.
How did you overcome not feeling worthy as a leader?
I’m still unsure if I have overcome it! To do this question justice we would need a hot drink and a white chocolate and raspberry muffin that’s been heated for 30 seconds, a little bit of butter and a dramatic pause right before I started speaking.
(Cue the pause)
I try not to base my leadership style primarily on power, intelligence or fear. Those things will always get you into trouble and make you think you’re more important than you actually are. My leadership style is based on asking for lots of advice, admitting to my mistakes and having integrity. This way you don’t have to be perfect and people will give you their loyalty out of trust and not obligation.
www.chenpalmer.com
MAI CHEN
Where do you get your energy from?
A desire to see the world better than it is.
How do you balance work and family?
There’s no such thing, but family is what matters.
What is public law/what does it deal with?
Check out:
Is it ever too late to conquer your dreams?
No.
How did you get the opportunity to study at Harvard?
By working hard.
GLENN MARTIN
How do you go about developing an idea or invention?
Wow … this would fill a book by itself…but basically break it down into smaller achievable steps then gain the skills to do those steps…
OR as my namesake said….
“The way to build aircraft or to do anything else worthwhile is to think out quietly every detail, analyse every situation that may possibly occur, and when you have it all worked out in practical sequence in your mind, raise heaven and earth and never stop until you have produced the thing you have started to make”
Glenn L. Martin 1918 (1886-1955)
You jumped off a building and have done other stunts – what else did you pull at school?
During one of my electrical experiments I blew up the substation for our area of Town…
I Sky dived, Kayaked, Mountain climbed, scuba dived, ran cycled swam, Coast to coasted, did martial arts etc ALL helped with the physical and mental strength to work on this.
I gave up TV, disconnected the Computer for a few years to force myself to study!!
JEHAN CASINADER
What is the scariest situation you have ever been in? How did you overcome it?
I try to put myself in scary situations every day. It’s the best way to live. As a reporter, the scariest situations are those in which you need to confront someone who’s violent or may react in an unpredictable way. But it gives you an adrenaline rush. You get the same rush when you realise that your work is being seen or read by hundreds of thousands of people. So really, ‘scary’ is not that scary. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had serious concerns about my safety.
What is your opinion on the judgement and representation of young people in new Auckland Council?
When the Super City was formed, there was a lot of concern that young people wouldn’t get a voice. But I hear a youth advisory panel has been set up, with 21 youth from across Auckland. It’s great that young people are being given a voice in the Super City, and I hope the council takes their views seriously. They’re not there to warm seats. They’re there because they have something worthwhile to say.
Do you act on your feelings or do you just let them guide you?
I always act on my feelings. There’s a lot of pressure on young people to suppress their emotions; to be plain and timid and boring. In the media, it’s the opposite. We try to make people feel something, and we try to make people think. I’m pretty honest about what I’m feeling, and I try to harness my emotions and use them to drive me. If you’re angry, be angry. If you need help, ask for help. If you’re grateful for something, show your gratitude.
How did you get into journalism and your current job as a news reporter?
I spent two years contributing to Tearaway Magazine as a youth writer. It helped me to develop writing, research and interview skills, and it gave me a sense of what young people care about. After that, I began freelancing for newspapers and magazines, during my later years of high school and my early years of uni. I didn’t go to journalism school or broadcasting school. I preferred the DIY route, where you do lots of work experience, knock on doors, and bring stories to editors. Journalism itself isn’t rocket science. Becoming a great journalist is about practice.
Have you ever done a story that caused a conflict of interest?
No. As a reporter you want to be as neutral as possible. I’m not involved with any companies or political parties. I’ve never had to do a story about someone I’m personally close to. But New Zealand’s a small place, and often you cross paths with people you know socially. You handle those situations as fairly as possible. If you can’t do that, you pass the story onto another reporter.
Is it hard to keep opinions to yourself when you’re passionate about a story?
My opinion as a reporter doesn’t count for much. What counts are the opinions of the people I’m interviewing. Their voices speak loudest. But as current affairs reporters, we have a bit of licence to take an angle on a story. Recently I did a story about a 92-year-old woman who was ripped off by a real estate agent and left homeless and penniless. Almost every person who watched that story would have felt desperately sorry for her, and felt angry that the agent had taken advantage of her. That was my opinion too, and it was appropriate for that to come across in the story. Journalists are not robots, and there are times when it’s okay for us to show our passion.
How do you not misrepresent something? Do you have pressure to?
No one’s perfect, and there’s no perfect version of the ‘truth’. As a reporter, you try to represent things as fairly and accurately as possible, but there’s no right way to go about it. I try my best to be fair to everyone I interview. If you misrepresent people, you’ll get a bad rep. With such a small media industry in New Zealand, your name will become dirt pretty quickly. There’s no pressure on me to represent issues in a certain way. I go with my gut.