Youth MP Simone Bisschoff Profile
‘I wanted to be an accountant because I liked math, but eventually, like most kids, I started to dislike math more and more.’
By Emelie Wissel, Youth Press Gallery, Youth Parliament 2025
Photo Caption: Simone Bisschoff, Youth MP
Now an aspiring law graduate at Otago or University of Canterbury, Year 13 student Simone Bisschoff is excited to be the Waimakariri Youth MP for 2025. Currently at Rangiora High School, she puts many hours into volunteering. Due to her active role in the Waimakariri Youth Council, she was inspired to apply for her local Youth MP. During her process of application, after being required to submit a project idea relating to youth access to opportunities, she begun to feel very passionate towards access to public transport. Since then, she has been published in the Otago Daily Times advocating for change and improvements in her local area. She aims to get more routes to Christchurch Central to open opportunities for youth to feel more connected to their area and grow the community outside the city’s borders.
She states that lunch is the most important meal of the day. That nothing is better than ‘a good bagel and iced Americano after a busy morning’. When she is not working and attending the gym on Saturdays, Sundays she is enjoying a calming day at home or outing. Simone is the type of person you can meet for the first time, grab a coffee on a Sunday, and have the most immersive conversation about any topic. Through her monthly Youth Council meetings and councillor conversations, she is consistently keeping up with the politics around her. She feels how the impact of costs can block post high school and university students from following their passions. Simone believes that there needs to be a bigger priority on offering scholarships and encouragement towards further education after high school. She uses the same approach towards the question, ‘How can government organisation use sport and physical activity to improve the lives of young people?’. With more scholarships, comes more opportunity for growth and better quality of life in youth.
Simone lives by her calendar. Constantly organised, on task, and managing her time, she gets her work done. Though she may seem introverted at first, once you get to know her, she is the complete opposite. Each day, Simone is pushed to succeed due to Anthea Penny. Someone she has worked closely with to uplift her school’s Soroptimist (volunteer) group and is a part of the North Canterbury club that established a junior club at school. Having only moved from Johannesburg, South Africa, three years ago she is determined daily to use the opportunities around her to improve the lives of others and her own as, in South Africa, she did not have the option to.
Simone’s quote of choice: "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela