Youth parliament > Press gallery > Youth Journalist Experience by Lose Siaki

Youth Journalist Experience by Lose Siaki

My first day as a Youth Press Gallery member was certainly a day to remember.

By Lose Siaki

Coming off the plane from Auckland was my first challenge. My bag weighed over 20 kilograms, which made it hard for me to carry around. On the plane, I sat alongside Rebecca and Storme, 2 members of the Youth Press Gallery. They both seemed quite knowledgeable about what we actually had to do during Youth Parliament 2007. This made me quite nervous as I still found difficulty trying to understand everything.
 
Arriving in Wellington took some pressure off me though. Just arriving in Wellington helped settle the nerves. Here, I met the rest of the group. Antonia, Sarah, Danielle, Kim, Greg, Ngwai and John. Together with Rebecca, Storme and myself, we made up the Youth Press Gallery 2007.
 
We started the day off with a tour around the parliament house. We got to walk around different historical rooms, which was an honour and a privilege because from what I can remember, I’m the only person in my family that has ever been in the parliament house. From there, we were taken to the press gallery room which eventually turned into our new classroom for the next 4 days.
 
The day continued with a powhiri and lunch. We got to meet the youth MPs and some of the MPs. Some of the youth MPs were quite friendly. Others kept to themselves. The number of young people that filled the banquet hall was overwhelming. I was so pleased to see so many young people in New Zealand that were very passionate about making our country a better place.
 
We ended the day with snacks in the banquet hall and then everyone was dismissed to their billets. We stayed at a marae though. It was a real cool experience. The hospitality and service we received was excellent. If you have nowhere to stay, when visiting Wellington, I strongly recommend the Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Island Bay.
 
Overall, the first day was very busy but also enjoyable. I did have my doubts on whether I was going to be able to cut it in the Youth Press Gallery. Some of the members are already writers for local newspapers. Some have been studying journalism for a while, and others have more passion, commitment and desire to become future journalists than I have to be honest. But I’m certainly continuing learning and looking forward to the rest of my time here in Youth Parliament 2007.

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