The Knowledge Wave Conference: Kesaia Waigth

By KESAIA WAIGTH, Gisborne Girls' High School, Gisborne

The Knowledge Wave conference was an amazing, exciting experience.

I get butterflies just thinking about the moment I stepped into the Rangitoto Ballroom, the hub of the Knowledge Wave buzz. I remember the James Bond must (which always makes me laugh), the lights, the chandeliers, the lobby, - the famous people and I can't believe I was there. It was the most satisfying feeling to sit among the 'elite' - the academics, business people, politicians and delegates.

I could feel the power in the room that these people held. And I loved every single minute that I got to spend right next to them.

It really was a buzz of action. Busy important people networking, the media interviewing, the politicians running into the elevator. I saw some really famous people in the elevator, and in the bathroom. But the whole time you could feel that something was brewing. Something great. Something I can still feel.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but the fact that I can feel it in my guts, burning and boiling away is all that I need to take away from the Knowledge Wave Conference.

But the conference taught me a lot. It generated in me great hope. We are actually a really awesome and brainy and innovative (and all those other big words) country. We have so much. I am so proud of our country and all our people. I have great pride in who we are and what we can achieve and I want the whole world to know. The conference showed me that we can be a knowledge society and catch that wave. We have everything we need, everybody we need.

I believe we know what to do and how to do it. I believe that we've done enough thinking and talking and sessioning and networking and report carding.

I can't give great ideas and models for success. We've got so many people who can tell us this, so many good, good experts. All I can say, as a 17-year-old student from Kaiti, Gisborne, is that I think it's time to start. All we have to do now is do it.

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