The Health Expo was a great experience for development and peer connection. We were tasked with creating a stall to help with wellbeing in teenagers. We were in groups of two. I was in a group with Samuel Arnold, with our topic being stress and how to manage it. We were given two weeks to research our chosen topic, with the goal of presenting to other Year 9s at the end of the term.

What were the biggest things you learnt while completing this task?

 I learnt how to collaborate more effectively in a group, but mostly I learned how incredibly effective meditation actually is on stress (and a whole bunch of other stuff). People are always talking about it, ‘meditation this’ and ‘meditation that’, but I never really realised how much of that was true. Collaboratively, I was working with Sam Arnold, who I’ve done a few projects with in the past. Despite this, the Health Expo was quite different, as we only had around two weeks to prepare. Our presentation may not have been the greatest of all time (probably due to the harsh time frame I mentioned before), but it was still a great learning experience for both me and my partner. I honed my visual design and research skills, and now feel a little more confident in presenting to peers. But, overall, the meditation is probably more impactful. I guess the main thing I’m taking away from this task is that I should start meditating.

What one piece of advice would you pass on to young people with regards to wellbeing above all else? Why?

Don’t take things too seriously, and take breaks. Sometimes you can get lost in thinking about how important something might be, but often there’s no real lasting consequences. If you remember to take breaks, this can also help massively reduce the stress of the task you are doing.

Write down a pledge that you will commit to in regards to your own wellbeing. Why did you pick these things to commit to? How will you stick to these commitments?

When I get stressed, whether it be due to school or other factors, I will take some time off what I normally do just to sit and think and meditate. I picked these things to commit to because it’s something related to my group’s presentation and I think it will really help to make a difference.

Overall, the Health Expo was a great experience for us Year 9’s, and it helped us learn many important things such as meditation (this is just specific to our group mostly), collaboration and having fun!