3 minute read
Reigniting hope
The final word
The HopeFull Institute is helping students thrive by “reigniting” hope. The Institute’s Director and Co-Founder Glenn Gerreyn shared his message of hope with RGS Year 11 students. The Capricornus Quarterly spoke with Glenn after his powerful day-long session with the RGS students.
Glen Gerreyn
THE HOPEFULL INSTITUTE
“I was a State champion sprinter in high school and had qualified for the world juniors. Then I got really sick and was on a disability pension for five years. My doctor said I couldn’t run let alone work. At 22 I read Nelson Mandela’s book Long Walk to Freedom. I was so inspired by his story that I took the $2 that I had leftover from the disability pension that week and raised money through government grants and business sponsorship and built a youth centre in Redcliffe. I won Young Australian of the Year in 1998 for Queensland community service and schools started asking me to share my story. This whole message that I share with students across the country is that I’ve been through stuff as a teenager. Through sickness, a family break up and dreams shattered. I’m trying to work with young people and tell them there’s still hope to continue dreaming about whatever you’re doing. Life’s unfair right. Sometimes you’re disadvantaged and sometimes you’re advantaged. It’s about finding purpose and meaning. Once they find that the discomfort is bearable. Whether it’s sport or a career. Don’t just settle for a job, career or a profession – seek a calling. If you follow your calling the fatigue is easier to bear, the disappointments will be fewer and the highs will be nothing like you’ve ever experienced. If we can get them to lock into something they love, it’s alright if there’s disappointments – they still have a long-term view and picture in front of them. It’s about gaining a vision for their life. If they live in their future they’ll have power in their present. The main reason so many young people are disengaged and powerless is because they have no hope in their future. We have to try and help give them that.”
Glenn spent a day with RGS Year 11 boys and girls, speaking with the boys during the first session before meeting with both groups together.
“I spoke to the boys about being Men of Honour – talking about sexual ethics for young boys. I also run that session for NRL teams during their rookie camps. It helps build the culture where guys are making better decisions around key areas of their life. A lot of young guys never have these critical conversations with elders. Exercise, nutrition, money, drugs and alcohol, sex, pornography. It’s the whole gamit. It’s really new ground. Young guys love that session because no one’s approached that stuff with them. A lot of what they hear while they’re growing up is misinformation. Boys want these conversations.
Most young guys want to be good guys, they just don’t know how. I spoke with the boys and girls in the second session on wellbeing. Finding your purpose – who you are, why you are here and where you are going. The final session was on resilience – overcoming fear of failure and judgement. My main goal is for them to take action. You can deliver awesome content, but unless they take action it doesn’t work. I gave them hundreds of salient ideas – some explicit and some implicitly, that they can take on and do. If I can get them to take the first step it’s easier to take the second step. Do the things first that they are uncomfortable with or fear. I find our seminars have some sort of level of stickiness to them. I still hear from people from 10 years ago updating me on where they are. I tell them not to rely on motivation. Motivation comes and goes. I want them to become committed to this.
People I meet at these sessions tell me “I have no goals”. They open up their book and we find something they can get started on. It just takes a little bit of guidance and mentoring.” Find out more about The HopeFull Institute at www.thehopefullinstitute.com
