RAP music, poetry, videos and home-baked cakes were some of the ways young people expressed their thoughts and experiences of the youth leadership project, Max Potential, last Friday.
The project, which lasts 22 weeks, encourages young people to work towards their goals, be they academic, personal or something completely different.
Samantha Rogers, with a bit of help from her coach, Christine Newsome, and other participants, rapped out her thoughts in words and movement.
Steven Selff began his talk by reciting a poem, Wasted Talent, which spoke of a person who stopped believing in himself.
He said the most important thing he had learned was to take control of his own life.
‘‘Do what you love for the sake of the journey,’’ Steven said.
‘‘It’s not about the money or the fame, but expressing yourself.’’
Amy Fradd expressed her feelings with a short video featuring her singing a rap-style song.
She rapped some Max Potential mottos around the tune: ‘‘Ex out the negatives; focus on the positives.’’
Amy said the main lessons were to accept what could not be changed, learn from mistakes and to take risks.
Tanika Shaw brought a different set of props: a basket containing different objects. ‘‘I thought I’d show you my basket of negatives,’’ Tanika said.
‘‘This [a book, Bedtime Tales] symbolises I don’t get enough sleep.
‘‘This clock, one of my big negatives; I need time management; every assignment I leave to the last minute.’’
She said she needed motivation for important goals such as school work and exercise.
‘‘But my [Max Potential] coach is helping me; pushing me in everything I want to do,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m looking forward to exing out these negatives.’’
Delvin Laudet said he once spent a lot of time watching YouTube, where he found a lot of advice about communication and self-exp-ression.
‘‘But I didn’t use any of that in real life,’’ he said.
‘‘Max Potential is an opportunity to grow as a person.
‘‘I started to put myself in more situations and I felt more confident.
‘‘I’m comfortable with my flaws and confident in myself.’’
Darius Baxter presented a cake, which he baked himself, topped with little flags inscribing different goals.
‘‘I learned about time management and communication skills,’’ Darius said.
Declan Horne said he wanted to achieve the confidence to accomplish things and to accept how he felt.
‘‘My goal is feeling more comfortable with being uncomfortable,’’ he said.
Jordan Klompenhouwer began his talk with pieces of paper.
‘‘Everyone in Max Potential starts off a bit blank, but we’re here to mould ourselves into something different,’’ he said.
He folded a sheet into a paper aeroplane and pitched it across the room.
‘‘We should be able to soar and fly as high as we can.’’
Jordan also demonstrated this with a coloured paper plane, commenting that some people soar through life unnoticed, because they camouflage their efforts.
Other people gave short presentations, some also in rap.