This year, I had the opportunity to coach the Year 7s & 8s for Interhouse Debating. We assisted them with point preparation, as well as giving them tips for improving their manner and rebuttals. This culminated in 2 debates, one in week 2, and the other in week 4.
For the first debate, one of our members decided to write their speech the day of. As leaders, though we had prepared them well with the information and points needed, this outcome demonstrated that they (the debaters) needed a form of accountability that we had previously failed to provide. For the next debate, we resolved to meet very early to ensure ample preparation time, and to check up on them via email regularly. This opened up the streams of communication, and all members were able to successfully write a speech for the second debate.
Overall, coaching the Year 7 & 8 debaters improved leadership and communication skills. It also allowed me to empathise for the debaters, as I had been in their place previously, so had experience with how they might feel about the challenge.
Leading up to the Health Wellbeing Expo, each group was required to identify a problem that youth face that affects wellbeing. Participants were also to present various solutions or strategies to enhance wellbeing (concerning the issue), or create awareness. The purpose of the Expo was to present findings.
My group and I decided to focus on and explore burnout. I felt that people needed to know and understand the importance of burnout, as it impacts negatively on health (physically, mentally & emotionally etc) and can leak into other areas of life.
Long story short, burnout is a state of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. It’s a result of accumulated stress, and it occurs when you’re overwhelmed/emotionally drained. Burnout is also caused by stress not being managed properly. It can cause you to feel apathy, hopelessness, self-doubt and decreased satisfaction overall. Hence, the strategies provided a range of practical and more subjective solutions to manage stress. This was so people would be able to choose and tailor to what suits them.
Solutions included: bullet journaling, daily affirmations, habit trackers, to-do lists, ways to nourish creativity, a bucket list, call to action, connecting with others, taking regular breaks and maintaining a consistent and healthy sleep, exercise and diet schedule.
With regards to advice for young people regarding wellbeing, I would say that it is important to look after even the seemingly unimportant, as it can leak into other aspects of your life. For example, if you don’t maintain a healthy and balanced diet and fill yourself with foods low in nutrition, high in sugar or low fibre carbs, then this can reduce your sleep quality and impact your concentration during the day, ultimately leading you to feel tired and not achieve what you could (which could lead to low self-esteem or mental health problems.) Basically, I think that it is important for young people to understand that they cannot keep portions of their lives perfectly compartmentalized and that these are all interconnected.
While completing this task, it could be slightly challenging at times to distribute work evenly, as the group was quite large. I felt we could have communicated more within the group and delegated work more equally. However, I did learn from this process. In terms of the information, I found it interesting that creative activities such as painting, drawing or music can improve the immune system. In the teamwork aspect, I experienced the importance of distributing work evenly across the group, as well as taking initiative and being organized.Though the completion of the task could have been more effective, it was a valuable opportunity for me to work with different types of people.
At the stall, any visual aids would have to fit onto the desk. A few ideas were:
posters – as they are visually appealing, easy to see & view with less information overload.
Video – Also appealing for visual + auditory learners, and adds intrigue as it’s not static.
Talk Booth – This allows for more personal connection as people can find out what they want. It is also easy to run on the side.
Full Speech – More detail, possibly engaging for auditory learners, but is also easier to lose interest depending on length or content.
Practical Demonstration – can be engaging for kinaesthetic learners, and is hands on, so is unique from others.
I settled on a video, posters and a talk booth. I think that this was a good combination, however, it could have been more effectively used. I think the video served its purpose, but is not a good application of my skills, as the overall product wasn’t as polished or professional as it could have been. This was perhaps due to time management within the group and communication.
The short and snappy video.
However, the video was short and easy to start conversations with. The posters had the right idea, (as I used my poster board), however, there was too much text. In hindsight, I could have made it more effective by using paper flaps (like little doors to the information), although this might not be very visually appealing (from a distance). I could have also used video-making skills to make a longer video (although I was concerned about the length in the first place which is why I didn’t do this).
A sketch of the stall (I don’t have access to any photos)
The talk booth was effective, as it connected with our audience on a personal basis, allowing more freedom too. It also made good use of the large group. Overall, the stall promoted awareness by showing people what burnout was, then presenting them with a wide variety of solutions.
The digital version of the poster.
Now, having just learnt more about well-being, it would be remiss of me not to make my own pledge. Therefore, to further improve my well-being, I shall make sure to regularly spend time with other people, so that I do not become isolated. I can do this by stepping out to interact with humans in social situations, rather than waiting for them to approach me first. This is a way to increase my wellbeing, as it stops me from being isolated, and helps me get out of my comfort zone in a non threatening way.
