Mt Maunganui College Visit

E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o te motu, nga hine me nga tama o tēnei kura, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Kia ora tātou katoa.  Distinguished guests, young women and young men of the school, warm greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Judge Paul Geoghegan, Chair of the Board of Trustees; Russell Gordon, Principal of Mount Maunganui College; Simon Bridges, member of Parliament; Jessica Stuit and Samuel Durrant, Head Girl and Head Boy respectively - tēnā korua.

It is a great pleasure for me to visit your College and to speak to you all. May I first congratulate you all on your 2011 NCEA results which I understand were above the national average.  As a parent of two teenaged boys, I’m very aware of the angst your parents and hopefully you share in striving for good results.  Also, congratulations to the Junior A Girls Volleyball team that won the North Island Secondary Schools Championship in December last year.  Well done!

Throughout my term as Governor-General, I want to visit and meet as many New Zealanders throughout the length and breadth of Aotearoa.  My visit to the Bay of Plenty reflects that focus.

There’s also another connection that brings me here.  One of my staff is an “old-boy” of this school - Le Roy Taylor, the Programme Advisor at Government House, is with me and I know he’s pleased to be back to see the changes since his attendance, not so long ago.

Mt Maunganui is a beautiful part of our country.  It’s a holiday and tourist destination, and sits beneath the unmistakable landmark of Mauao, or The Mount. 

Since this College was established in the mid-1950s, it has served the Mt Maunganui beach community excellently.  As a recently retired Board of Trustee member I know that the reputation of the school is important for so many reasons.  The high reputation of this school is reflected in the academic achievement of its students and its increasing roll, both of which are a direct consequence of the quality of teaching.

The emphasis on excellence here is signalled in the school’s guiding proverb – a proverb that I have reflected on many times throughout my life: Whāia te iti kahurangi Ki te tūohu koe, me he maunga teitei - Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be before a lofty mountain.

The message of the proverb is that you should always aim high so that if you don’t quite reach your goals, you will still have the satisfaction of achieving much—and you will be a better place than where you started! Striving to be the best that you can be in everything you do will ensure success at school, at home, in sport, and in your chosen career. In all that you do, make sure you take responsibility for what you do.  Own the good and equally own your mistakes.  Especially in the case of the latter, own it, fix it, learn from it, and move on.

Excellence is something that can be achieved in all areas of our lives.  Each one of us should always strive to excel in everything that we do.  In my own case, I embarked on a life as a soldier in the New Zealand Army in 1972, just after I left school and long before many of you here were born!  That may even include some staff!  I had many unique and challenging experiences during my time in the Army.  However, the pursuit of excellence was always emphasised in everything we did, be it in keeping fit, using weapons, training in the jungles of Malaysia, or peacekeeping in Southern Lebanon.  You don’t want to be second in battle.

Although I wasn’t intending to become Governor-General at the age of 18, I was committed to working towards the next step in my career, and ensuring that I had as many opportunities as was possible.  Joining the New Zealand Special Air Service was something else that I chose to do because they are the best at what they do, and I wanted to serve with the best!

Thank you all once again for giving me such a warm welcome.  What I see before me is a group of young women and men that have neat opportunities and enormous potential to achieve great things.  It seems to me that being the best you can be at what you set out to do will ensure you have options and choices.  Life is about having choices.  Work hard to keep your options open. Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.