Her theme for the speech was ‘tautua ma le alofa, mo le lumana’i manuia’ which translates to ‘serve in and with love for a better future’ - something she said she lives by daily.
“When I was writing my speech, I had three main words I talked about – serve (tautua), love (alofa), and blessing (manuia).”
For Selyndah, serving means doing nice things for the people around her, without expecting anything in return.
“In my speech, I talked about how I serve my grandparents because I live with them, so I do chores, and I don’t just do it to get something in return, I just do it because I love them.”
Selyndah studies Samoan through Te Kura correspondence lessons online, taking the subject a year ahead of her year level, and entered the Pacifika Fusion speech competition in July this year where she placed second.
It was her teacher who encouraged her to enter the speech competitions, she said.
She said speaking Samoan at home with her grandparents has helped her develop her skills a lot too.
Selyndah’s love for public speaking has stemmed from her experience preaching at her church, Assembly of God, she said. It’s something she does every Sunday.
“Preaching is like my comfort zone – I love preaching about the Lord. I just love speaking in front of people.”
Selyndah said she has lots of other hobbies outside of speaking – she plays several instruments, including the drums in her church’s band.
She is also interested in computer science and would like to study it at university when she finishes school.
