Summit sways student

A young Northland man is keen to lend a hand overseas after being inspired by an international economic youth summit he attended.

Bradleigh Cherrington of Haruru Falls was one of four New Zealanders selected to attend the November Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) youth summit in Manila, where youths from 21 countries came together to discuss the economy, and now he has been motivated to make changes in New Zealand.

The 20-year-old Auckland University of Technology Student was nominated by the university's indigenous faculty Te Ara Poutama.

"When I found out I felt really mixed emotions, it gave me a sense of self worth. I felt really honoured," he said.

Mr Cherrington said, during the conference, the young delegates broke up into different groups tasked with talking about youth participation in the economy.

"In our group, we talked about creating an understanding that youth currently were not really understanding the economy. We said there needed to be a youth-friendly approach, so we talked about how today's youth are less engaged with websites and it's now all about the apps."

Mr Cherrington, of Ngapuhi, said it was interesting learning about other economies from a Maori perspective and he grew to be appreciative of home.

"Going into rural areas in the Philippines, there's a great disparity over there. They have dirt floors and tin walls but they all had a smile on their face, I was really taken back by how happy they were. That's really brought me down to earth."

One of the highlights for Mr Cherrington was the CEO summit which was attended by the likes of Barrack Obama and other world leaders. "It was an honour to be in their presence," he said. "They talked about how we can build the economy and things like the TPP free trade agreement. It was inspiring to be exposed to that."

Mr Cherrington and the other New Zealand representatives also had breakfast with Prime Minister John Key. Mr Cherrington said he now has a strengthened motivation to help others.

"My plan is to do international volunteering in 2020 and I also want to take a political route. I've always wanted to help people but this has opened my eyes and given me a wider view," he said.

Mr Cherrington will be graduating, with his Bachelor of Arts majoring in Maori Development, in December.