World Challenge India trip

WORLD CHALLENGE INDIA: LAND OF CONTRASTS

Picture a school trip. What springs to mind? Cultural strolls through the streets of Florence or Tokyo, biological investigations of seashores or New Zealand bush, practising a language in Beijing or Madrid maybe?

How about trekking through deep snow with a backdrop of snowy peaks, snuggling up to bed in a narrow bunk on a crowded railway carriage with the aroma of fragrant spices, or struggling up a steep slope in the hot sun carrying bags of soil for a rooftop school garden? These activities all formed part of our World Challenge expedition to northern India during the last Christmas holidays.

While most students and their parents were sitting down to a festive lunch or chilling at the beach, 12 senior students and two staff were painting walls, supervising craftsmen and negotiating bargains in the markets of Udaipur.

We had already spent six days gaping in wonder at the mighty Himalayas from snow-covered trails, and we had practised our downward dogs in the ‘Capital of Yoga’, quaint Rishakesh on the banks of the mighty Ganges. We would soon be heading out by train to the tourist hubs of Jaipur and Agra to gaze at the pristine splendour of the Taj Mahal and drink tea on the rooftops of the Pink City.

Culture, activity and a large dose of servant leadership were to be the backbone of this trip, and students would develop lifelong skills of selfreliance, co-operation and resilience. Not a standard trip by any account, but possibly more memorable for all of that. Some of our students paint more of a picture in the following pages.

ANNABELLE IRELAND

Though it is hard to choose with so many fond memories of India, I think my favourite memory from the trip would have to be our first night in Nainital.

With over a year leading up to the trip, and with all the planning and preparation behind it, I was just so excited to finally be there amongst the people and the community. Having driven from Delhi all the way up through villages and into the mountains, we’d seen a lot through the windows, but finally getting out of the bus to be part of the buzzing street life was so exciting.

We started by walking along the main road lining the beautiful lake, which looked as though it belonged on the front of a postcard; the water dotted with vibrantly coloured swans and paddle boats, with picturesque views of the mountains layered in the background as far as the eye could see. We made our way into the village to experience our first taste of the local markets, an expected shock, as people came up to us trying to sell anything from hand-knitted slippers to fake Ray Ban sunglasses, and very young children selling balloons.

At this stage of the trip, because nothing there was normal for me,

all those little things that were just everyday practice for the locals, were so interesting. For instance, simply seeing the stalls and watching people go about their lives making their handmade goods and selling them on the street was so exciting and I felt so privileged to get to be a part of that culture. Past the markets and further along the lakeside, we went into a temple. Experiencing that part of their culture was special, and to top it off we were each given a traditional bindi and blessings as we left.

We finally dipped our toes into real Indian culture and experienced a handful of new things that were such a refreshing change from living in Auckland and not experiencing anything like that.

EMILY BASHFORD

For me, the highlights of the World Challenge trip were a bunch of small moments.

The first of these moments was on our long eight-hour bus drive from Delhi airport to our first stop in Nainital. Needless to say, I was still quite nervous – 12 teenage girls dropped in the middle of India with a month ahead of us, not really knowing what to expect. This moment came to me as we drove along the village roads. Most of the girls slept on the journey after our long plane rides, but I could not keep myself from looking. Everything was different, nothing was the same. It felt as though I was in a parallel universe. I remember sitting there smiling at the faces outside, living their normal lives, which did not even begin to compare to anything I had seen before. I learnt a lot in those first few hours from just looking out of the window. There were almost no women out on the streets, just boys. Many would lock eyes with me – whether it was the little boy who waved back at me, the teenager who hollered to his friends to also look or an old man in a chair who would give us a double glance of bewilderment – we were clearly just as much of a sight for them as they were for us; a bus of a dozen foreign girls, including me with my pale skin and bright red hair.

I knew that I was going to have the time of my life. I knew it would be hard, I knew there was a lot ahead of me, but I also knew that this place was special. It had a spark of aliveness about it that one can’t really describe. Despite that, these people lived in such harsh conditions and with so little, they were living their lives just as much as we do in our developed environment.

This trip quite simply changed my life. I experienced some things one would wish to never see with their own eyes, however I have not one single regret. Every day I now feel overwhelmed with gratitude for my position and my life, especially as a girl. My eyes have been opened to just how much there is to see in this world; a feeling of being so small in a world with so much uniqueness. I would recommend this travel opportunity to any Dio girl – it is something most girls in the world would not even dream of.

NATASHA DINGLEY

It is impossible for me to choose one main highlight because the whole trip was absolutely phenomenal! I loved every single moment, even the challenging times – we grew so much from every single experience; the good, the bad and the seriously ugly!

Seeing the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, women washing clothes in the Ganges, visiting the elephant sanctuary, working in the youth centre, eating curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner, camping in tents on snow in the middle of the Himalayan mountain range, watching the sunrise from the top of a temple, and seeing Nadia and Saz being bucked by a bull, were all incredible experiences and memories that I will treasure for my lifetime. But I have to say that it is the friendships I made along the way that I will treasure the most.

The people of India are incredible. They were so welcoming, kind, generous and happy with the little that they had. Our Himalayan trekking guide, Khundan, was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. This brave soul would try and catch us when we stumbled through the snow, and he had the biggest smile that gave us the strength to keep going. The friends we made while working at the youth centre and the cheeky, playful kids there will always hold a special place in my heart. Communication was challenging, but people patiently helped us and somehow we always managed to find our way.

As a group, we created a special, indelible bond on this journey together and I’m certain that as we go forward with our lives, we will reflect on this experience with even more appreciation and respect for what we achieved.

I went into this journey knowing that it would be a challenge, but I could never have prepared myself for how difficult it actually was, both physically and mentally. We all had our own personal reasons for embarking on this wild adventure, and the personal journey for each of us enabled us to grow in a way I could never have imagined. The most challenging moments we experienced are actually now some of my favourite memories and I often catch myself laughing out loud when thinking of them.

I have come back so appreciative of everything I have in my privileged life; my healthy family, my safe home, this incredible education and a world full of opportunities that await me. I will never again take for granted the beauty of a flushing toilet and a soft pillow. Going forward in life, I feel that I will be able to overcome any challenge I am faced with in the future. India will always be an incredibly special part of me.

EARABLE ONDERSW

Waste and how we deal with it at Diocesan is a community issue, just as it is for a world that has to be sustainable. The Creative Industries Faculty works to give voice and navigate solutions to important issues such as global sustainability.

In the second half of last year, Year 8 girls were tasked with a brief to design a statement piece that showcased the issue of ‘DioWaste’ at a Wearable Wonders extravaganza held at the end of November, adapting, reusing and repurposing a specific waste stream and following certain constraints and rules to fulfil the brief. Waste streams that could be used included waste from Information Systems Support, reprographics, the Diosphere café, the Dio cafeteria, the Boarding House, general waste, lost property and offcuts/waste from the various areas of the Creative Industries Faculty. Themes were drawn from a hat (as opposed to being self-selected); students were required to work with materials from any of the waste streams; construction had to be by approved techniques only and involve no hot glue or paint; and there had to be a deconstruction plan – the outfit had to be deconstructed, recycled and/ or repurposed after the show, with anything that would end up in landfill calculated and justified.

The World of Wearable Arts certainly provided inspiration for our girls, and from the Wearable Wonders outfits that they created and produced, we can see that they are well equipped to enter into a world where we will need to be much more inventive in terms of how we best utilise the planet’s resources.

Students were judged based on the following criteria: Materials – what was selected and how it was used Innovation – new, exciting and original ideas and techniques (thinking outside the box) Visual impact – how the item looked on stage Construction and durability – how well the item was made and how it held up on stage Message – the meaning behind the design and how well it was communicated.

The themes included Mythical Beasts, Demons of the Dark (things that go bump in the night), Feast for the Eyes, Futuristic Fun times, Outer Space, Urban Legend, Alternate Reality, Beneath the Surface. THE AWARD WINNERS WERE:

Urban Legend: Lucy Xu, Eleanor Christiansen, Stella Brawn

Outer Space: Annabelle Baigent, Emma Wilson, Dyna Ye

Alternate Reality: Taylor West, Lilly Lang, Juliet Nasrabadi

Feast for the Eyes: Sophie Shuttleworth, Grace Wellington, Margot Sullivan

Beneath the Surface: Ruby Crawford, Holly Barker, Mia Tinkler

Demons of the Dark: Cassie Wood, Alex Wackrow, Pascale Vincent

Futuristic Fun times: Mary Stanfield, Emma Hodson, Libby Crawford

Mythic Beasts: Olivia Turnbull, Ella Kerr, Victoria Wright

Two students share their reflections on the experience, first Mary Stanfield:

“The many Creative Industries lessons that were spent gluing, sewing, planning, re-planning, and so much more, made the lead-up to the Wearable Wonders showcase seem long and tiring. But it turned out to be a very popular and successful event that was practiced well and ran very smoothly on the day. Creating a good-looking, meaningful and successful design was hard work and, to be honest, I was very surprised that we won our category! We were really pleased that we did because it made all that hard work really feel worth it. Personally, it helped me see design in new ways. Now I see different meanings to designs and how the artists/designers are trying to portray a message, because that was what we were trying to do. Working with different materials and mediums allowed us to experiment and explore. We tried so many construction techniques, like sewing, fusing, weaving and plaiting, which helped us to see that you can use so much more than just glue. We worked with colour, explored different waste streams and worked with new people. I loved this challenge and I have learned so much from it. Without all the help and planning from the Creative Industries teachers we would not have had such an amazing show, so we are very grateful for the time that they put into this event.”

And Matilda Abernethy comments:

“For two terms the Year 8 classes worked on extravagant outfits in Creative Industries – all this for the 2018 Wearable Wonders show! My group was given the theme ‘Beneath the Surface’ and we immediately thought about the ocean and the pollution and rubbish humans are causing in it. Our outfit included a skirt, headpiece and cape. We used trial and error and often had to find different ways to create the look we wanted with only limited resources. Our cape was the main part of our costume and it took almost two terms to make! The outside was covered in rubbish and fused plastic (that we learned to make in class) to represent the ugly rubbish floating on top of our ocean. The inside of the cape was covered in different pretty blue fabrics that represented the water beneath the surface of the ocean.

“I was the model for our group, meaning that I was the one displaying our outfit to the judges, which made me pretty nervous, but the show was really well organised so I ended up feeling reassured and confident. When the time finally came, all the models waited backstage as each category was announced. It felt like there were a billion butterflies in my tummy as I got in line and waited for my turn to strut the runway. The bright lights shone on my face, and it felt like everyone was looking at me. Suddenly it was my turn and I slowly walked down the stage to the music. All my butterflies disappeared as I hit my poses.

“Unfortunately, our outfit didn’t win the category, but I felt really proud as it was an experience I will not forget. Of course, all this would not have been possible without our amazing teachers as they organised the whole show and helped us along the way.”

A passion for writing

There’s nothing like a deadline or two to get your creative juices flowing. Just ask former Diocesan student Emma Uren, who was still putting the finishing touches to her entry to a prestigious writing award just hours before it was due – and before she was due at the 2018 Diocesan Graduation Ball. She managed to fit her writing in between studying for her final NCEA exams and sent off the finished manuscript – all 17,597 words of it – just in time.

Her entry, titled It’s A Small World, went on to win her the Young New Zealand Writers’ Youth Laureate Award for 20182019. Emma’s prize is to be mentored by New Zealand author Lee Murray, to have her novella-length manuscript developed for publication by Phantom Feather Press, and a contract for its publication in e-book and print. The book will be launched on 31 May at the 40th National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Rotorua.

The competition strongly prefers speculative fiction, so it’s not surprising Emma drew inspiration from two of her favourite authors, sci-fi and fantasy stars Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. In the story, a boy creates a model of a universe for a school science project, a universe, we discover, that contains a world just like ours. Emma’s inspiration stemmed from her interest in the way we humans try to make sense of our purpose in the world, and Emma says: “what, if anything, might be out there. I thought at the time it would be a cool premise for a story, something a little unusual and fresh.”

An excellent all-round student, Emma was Proxime Accessit to the Dux in 2018. She has always enjoyed expressing herself through dance, music and the arts, learning ballet, tap, jazz and intercultural dance, and playing cello in the Diocesan Symphony Orchestra, and percussion in the Concert Band. Dance is still a great passion for the University of Auckland student, and she’s also teaching herself to play the piano.

Emma clearly loves language. As a Year 10 student she represented Diocesan in the 2015 national spelling bee and has had her prose and poetry published in several secondary school competitions and publications. After graduating from Diocesan, she travelled around China, and has added learning Mandarin to her to-do list.

Emma’s former English teacher, Isabel Michel, says at school Emma was a thoughtful, perceptive student and a prolific writer who loved experimenting with different genres.

“In her literature essays you could see her working out ideas and coming to great insights through the process of writing. She tried things out and experimented. She has a well-defined voice, is highly imaginative, often quite whimsical. Emma impressed me with the way she took every opportunity to keep learning and developing her skills.”

Emma is now studying a conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Engineering degree at the University of Auckland, majoring in psychology, with some linguistics and languages on the side. She plans to specialise in biomedical engineering and is also considering a teaching diploma or higher education.

When it comes to advising current Diocesan students on choosing careers, she’s philosophical about what’s ahead: “As the statistics say, my generation is probably going to have multiple jobs in a lifetime, and the more the better – I can’t wait to explore all life has to offer. From what I’ve experienced so far, it’s best not to plan ahead too much – just relax and look for opportunities as they come.”

The sky’s no longer the limit!

In December, 45 Diocesan students in Years 8, 9 and 10 attended the CASE Junior Space School at the Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville Alabama, and at the NASA centre in Houston. Thirteen Dio students in Years 11, 12 and 13 joined other girls from across New Zealand and Australia on the CASE Senior Space School, in Houston, where they got to go behind the scenes at NASA.

From dissecting sharks to simulated missions on the International Space Station, our students had the opportunity to discover how STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) combine to enable exploration in space. Through leadership opportunities and challenges, the girls made the most of every moment to experience life as an astronaut, mission controller or engineer. Downtime was rare but they still had time for a bit of shopping therapy and an NBA game, and returned home excited and enthused about their trip.

In an ever-changing world, this experience has given them a glimpse of the future and the possibilities in scientific research and exploration. Where to next? The sky is no longer the limit!

The senior students report back: This Senior Space School, run by Actura and including New Zealand students for the first time, had an emphasis on using the incredible progress of science and the space industry to teach us about leadership. Interwoven through many inspirational stories were our 7 Success Principles: curiosity, entrepreneurialism, problem solving, collaboration, agility, communication, and ‘dream big and commit to it’ (which we delighted in changing to ‘dream big and comet to it’).

We had an incredible two weeks away, participating in a Space Center University course of rockets, robots, cryogenics and heat shields. An awesome astronomy lesson and space flight simulation awaited us at the George Observatory, and we visited the world’s largest swimming pool at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in which astronauts train preflight.

From learning about the physics of the futuristic VASMIR rocket propulsion technology being developed by Ad Astra, to being ‘starstruck’ meeting Franklin Chang Diaz (Ad Astra CEO and astronaut), the chance to interact with those in the space industry was invaluable. It was awesome to be ‘immersed in space’, brought together with groups of keen girls from a range of other schools, to absorb the passion radiated by everyone we met in the field. The experience and knowledge gained was incredibly valuable, not only from an academic perspective, but also in the way we were challenged on a personal and interpersonal level, which made it all the more meaningful. We are grateful for all the support and encouragement we had from Dio, and especially to the Science Department for giving us this unique opportunity.

While it would be great to inspire the next astronaut, more importantly, this is a great opportunity for the girls to realise there are so many different career paths in STEAM internationally, but also in our own creative backyard. In New Zealand, we have Rocket Lab, who have received $140m in funding to develop and launch advanced rocket technology, to provide rapid and repeatable access to orbit for small satellites. Rocket Lab is driven to broaden the horizons of what’s already possible in space and inspired by the possibilities not yet imagined.”

Actura Business Development Manager, Tegan Morrell

ear 12 Diocesan student Anneke Cummack describes herself as a ‘proud nerd with a passion for anything sciencey’. The winner of the Alliance Space School Scholarship, she says she has a never-ending desire to learn about new things and share these with others. And this trip was the perfect opportunity to do that.

“From seeing awesome ground-breaking technology, to meeting inspiring astronauts, scientists and engineers, being challenged to problem solve, meeting like-minded girls from other schools, being immersed in amazing learning about such a range of space topics, and actually going to NASA, I was jump-around-the-room excited for every day of this trip!”

n hour bus trip out to Brazos State Bend Park, seemingly the middle of nowhere, took us to the George Observatory. First, we were ushered into a classroom for a captivating astronomy lesson. Our discussion ranged from light pollution to the life cycle of stars, the workings of telescopes, Galileo and other notable early astronomers, and the discovery of other galaxies. We left the room literally starstruck!

Next, we headed out to the dome in which the telescope is located. The telescope is absolutely massive, yet balanced so perfectly on its support that the motor used to turn it only needs to be the strength of that in a sewing machine! Another exciting piece of technology is the hydraulic floor, which lifts the viewer up to the telescope, as moving the giant device downwards is not really an option! Since it was the middle of the day and very cloudy, we had no chance of seeing any stars. But that only gives us a good excuse to return one day – right? ne of the ‘7 principles’ topics was entrepreneurism, and centred around Franklin Chang Diaz, founder and CEO of Ad Astra rocket company. He was the first Costa Rican astronaut in space and shares the record for the most space trips – seven. On our visit to Ad Astra, we were lucky enough to encounter Dr Chang Diaz in person. Our group accosted him with excited requests for photos and signatures on our lanyards, which he politely indulged, much to our delight! We were all so excited we even sang Tutira Mai to him, which he seemed to enjoy (and one of his colleagues recorded behind us).

he tour finished up with a visit to the Saturn 5 in residence. Thirteen of these gigantic three-stage rockets were made. The colossal beast was lying on its side in a shed, separated out into its three sections so the various engines were visible. Although the whole rocket is about 110m long, the actual capsule (the bit that houses the astronauts and goes into space) is only about 10m in length. We had a fun time trying to get a good photo – it was a massive task to try and get as much of the huge rocket in as possible.

PURSUING BIG DREAMS

On Thursday 14 February, Mr Boasman, Mrs Sampson and Year 10 student Amelia Lockley were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Rocket Lab. Amelia reports on their visit here.

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that was founded by Peter Beck in 2006 and became a US company in 2013, but most of the people who work there are New Zealanders. Rocket Lab was the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space with its Atea 1 suborbital sounding rocket. The rocket was launched from Sir Michael Fay’s private island off the Coromandel coast. Peter Beck grew up in Invercargill and always wanted to build rockets when he grew up. He says his school careers advisors had some concerns about his dreams!

Rocket Lab was created to break the barriers of commercial space flight, as it has successfully done with the creation of the Electron, a lightweight, costeffective rocket. The Electron has made it relatively easy and affordable for companies to launch small satellites into orbit. The satellites could be as small as a lunch box or weigh up to 150kg, which is still very small for a satellite. In the past, it was very costly to launch a rocket but with the development of the Electron, it will cost less than $5 million dollars. Further, the lead time for businesses to launch satellites will also be reduced from two years to a matter of weeks. Rocket Lab not only provides commercial benefits for faster access to space, but it will also help to enable more accurate weather prediction, global high-speed internet access as well as real-time monitoring of the impacts of human development on planet Earth.

At the beginning of 2018, Rocket Lab employed a team of 223 staff globally and by the end of 2018, that number had increased to 380. Rocket Lab is still actively recruiting for at least 100 more roles.

Last year I had the amazing opportunity to interview the founder, Peter Beck, and Avionics engineer, Naomi Altman, through my role as a kid tuber for the children’s TV programme What Now. The interviews took place at Rocket Lab’s old premises near the airport. Subsequently, I was invited to visit their new premises in Mt Wellington. These premises are four times bigger and will support Rocket Lab’s growth in coming years. Rocket Lab manufactures the Electron rockets and fits all the different components together at the Mt Wellington site. Most of their rockets are launched from their New Zealand Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula, but some are also planned for launch this year from Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, in the United States. Rocket Lab’s mission is to have one launch per week by the year 2020.

It is interesting that Rocket Lab is located not far away from our school but is a big international company bound by US rules and regulations. For example, we needed to clear a security check before getting approval for the visit. They wanted to know our nationality and if we were New Zealand citizens. Further, we were not allowed to bring any electronic equipment such as cameras or mobile phones inside the Rocket Lab facilities.

We toured inside Rocket Lab for about 40 minutes. While being shown around the factory floor, one of the engineers stepped in and showed us some of the equipment used in the process of making the rockets. He explained the machines used to test if the materials are able to withstand the different temperatures (one test lasts up to seven days), the machine that vibrates to test if the parts can withstand being shaken during lift-off and a vacuum machine that tests to see if the parts of the rocket that will be in space can withstand being in a vacuum.

I found it extremely interesting to learn how Rocket Lab uses 3D printing to produce their engine, as we also learn this type of technology at school.

We were able to get a great view of the whole factory floor from the board room which is located above the factory. It has lots of glass walls, which give amazing views. We saw them doing some tests on the rocket, which was up on the launchpad in Mahia from the big screens in mission control.

Rocket Lab is a company with a lot of innovation, creativity and big dreams to pursue. We can all relate to this as our school brand conviction is “be more than you ever imagined”.