Community Service (18 years old)
Lina began at Albany Junior High School, determined to become a leader. She was elected as a Student Councillor in Years 7 and 8 and gained a strong passion for public speaking. She won various speech and debating competitions and graduated the school with the Overall Leadership Cup.
In 2011, Lina started at Westlake Girls High School and by this point cemented that she wants to be Prime Minister of New Zealand. She looked for opportunities to do something for the community and joined the Devonport-Takapuna Local Youth Board where she facilitated community workshops and helped gather youth opinions on the Unitary Plan.
Lina won the Lions Club District Young Speechmakers Competition in 2014 and competed in the Tauranga finals followed by selection as a member of the Ministry of Youth Development’s National Youth Panel for 2015. She also attended the National Youth Hui held in Wellington, helped coordinate the annual Youth Week Awards Ceremony in Parliament and was nominated for the Ministers of Youth Development’s Leadership Award for her efforts in the community.
Most recently, Lina was awarded the Proxime Accessit for Dux award at Westlake Girls High School and the Best All Rounder Student in Academic, Cultural and Leadership Award for the year.
Lina’s aim is to enter local politics in her mid 20’s and to begin working for the government after experience as an ambassador for NZ in foreign affairs. Believing that it is vital to gain a deeper understanding of the legal system in NZ and the history of national and international politics, Lina plans to study Law and Political Science as a conjoint degree.
Lina also has a passion for the arts and last year travelled to Vienna to compete in the Summa Cum Laude Festival, with Westlake’s Premier Choir, Choralation, who eventually won the Mixed-Choir category. Lina also won this year’s "Westlake's Got Talent", an inter school talent show between Westlake Boys and Girls High School, through voice.
“To be the change, you need to be the change” is a phrase that Lina lives by. She plans to be the change-making future politician of our community and New Zealand.
