I was born in Mumbai, India, but my family and I came to New Zealand in 2002. I have a younger brother named Max and a dog named Bruno (I just realized how mainstream their names are), and my mother currently works as an early childhood teacher and used to be a secondary school teacher in India. This has definitely influenced me significantly because she motivates me academically and enabled me to always be around children and find happiness among them. My dad motivates me when it comes to sports, especially Tennis. He makes sure I push myself to the absolute maximum as well as maintaining a healthy physique. I don't have the words to explain how blessed I am to be able to call them my parents. My brother Max is the motivation and happiness to my day and he can challenge me to the full. We have on and off days, but he is undoubtedly my favourite human being.

This role is very important as it is responsible for voicing student opinions and allows me to recognize achievements, diversity and the talent we have at our school. One of my responsibilities within this role is to write a student report for each month, which recognizes these talents and achievements in order for those students to be acknowledged. I have currently been to four Board meetings and I believe I have significantly benefited from each one, and have learnt so many vital communication skills along the way. In relation to issues or requests I haven't progressed far enough into the position to view any trends in complaints, and so far it's been quite a positive summary!

A highlight for me was definitely being able to go on the Spriti of Adventure in the January holidays. I was so privileged to have the school board sponsor my flights to Auckland and back and the NZTA organization sponsors 120 Student Representatives throughout New Zealand to participate in the Student Trustee Spirit of Adventure voyages. Those five days were undoubtedly some of the best days of my life. I met around forty other student trustees from all around New Zealand (so many places I've never heard before). The Spirit of Adventure is known for providing an amazing and unforgettable experience, and only once you have the opportunity to go on it, do you realize how true that actually is! The first day was scary, the thought of being in a boat for five days with absolutely no one I knew was terrifying, but that opinion slowly changed. We sailed from Auckland harbor to nearby islands. One of the spirit rituals I will never forget is waking up at 6:30 am, heading to the deck and having to jump into the sea at 6:45 for a morning swim. At this time in the morning the sun was still not out and it was so cold, but it was something we all did (including the crew). Thankfully, we got a quick hot water rinse after it. We were always doing team-building activities, especially the setting of the sails every day, which was a difficult but an exhilarating task. We also got educated on our role as Student Trustees because the voyage was tailored especially for our group of students. The forty students I met on this voyage are not some of my closest friends and we are already planning our next reunion.

Well, once again, I hadn't even commenced within my position as Student Trustee yet so we couldn't really compare school feedback, but I definitely met many like-minded people on that voyage who wanted to enforce united, positive school communities through staff and student collaboration.

I also volunteer for the youth helpline 'Kidsline', where I went through an interview process and then got trained alongside around twenty other year 12's and 13's over two weeks in the January holidays in 2016. Kidsline is a telephone counselling service which offers support to youth under the age of 18. This has not only helped me deal with difficult calls, but I realize I am applying these skills in my daily to support and motivate others. Helping this service has enabled me to develop in many different ways and understand a person's situation and be able to help find alternative solutions to difficult situations. One of the training days was dedicated to suicide and self-harm. This training day was particularly challenging, however I was educated on the importance of how to support youth facing such circumstances, and we also had a trained professional supervisor on shift helping us if we did receive risk calls. I believe other students should also be educated with the significance and seriousness of such a situation, and it's a great opportunity that offers level 3 credits and upon completion, a certificate in youth care.

One of my main hobbies is definitely tennis and I have been playing since the age of nine and  have done so competitively since the age of twelve. I received the opportunity to represent Canterbury at the age of twelve and have also had the privilege of representing our school at New Zealand Secondary School Nationals four times. I believe that participating in any competitive sport, solitary or team-based, is beneficial to leadership roles, because you are constantly engaging with your willpower, your work ethic and your motivation, and you learn to always push your capabilities and take every opportunity. Tennis definitely gives me that source of self-discipline.

My primary goal and the purpose of this role is to ensure that student's voices are heard and acknowledged. Burnside is such a large school so it's important to make sure everyone is doing okay and feeling happy and safe in their school environment.

The board meetings were incredibly nerve-racking at the start because I didn't know when and how to contribute in discussions. It can be quite challenging to understand how it all works, but it got easier as time went on. All the members are so supportive and easy to talk to so it helped boost my confidence to actively contribute and present my student report.

I would select the cheesy saying from the Spirit, ''We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.''