RYLA & RYPEN EVENING CELEBRATION
Tuesday’s meeting at Remuera Golf Club was themed around RYPEN and RLYA.
Our guests, introduced by Peter Ross included participants of the recent RYLA week, Chris Osborne from RYPEN, Partners of members, Murry Thom one of the speakers at RYLA, James Gordon OC of the Army’s team at RYLA and past youth exchange student Eva Schnittger who is visiting from Germany.First Speaker
Our First Speaker was Chris Osborne from Rotoract who gave us a short update on the recent RYPEN camp which took place 22 – 24 July at Kokako Lodge Huna.
The weekend was run by young Rotaractors and past RYLA awardees who share their experiences, hopes and ideals with participants with keynote speaker invited on Saturday evening.RYPEN is designed for Year 11 and 12 students who are seen as the upcoming leaders in your school, not those students who are already leading and achieving amazing things or those at the bottom end, but those students who just need a bit of a push and a confidence boost to start achieving at their full potential.
RYPEN has as its principal aim, to communicate to young people taking part in the program a series of ideas, problems and social experiences which will assist them in forming their own values and moral standards and allow them to broaden their horizons culturally, socially and academically. The intention being to get the participants to be their best selves.The RYPEN weekend is designed to promote teamwork and participation, friendship and social interaction; integrity, respect for other people and their cultures, accountability, empowerment and leadership.
From all accounts the weekend was a success and plans are underway for next year’s edition.
Second Speakers
After an excellent meal President Dave introduced Sophie Eskridge who told us what the program was then in turn introduced Sophie Roberts who talked to her experiences at RYLA, including the need for goal setting, the need to think bigger and the need to get the most out of the things you say yes to.Sophie was followed by a number of Rylarians who told us how the week had challenged them in ways they weren’t expecting, taught them to make decisions quickly and without delay, made them think about allocating resources efficiently and how to plan properly and then execute.
A theme of the speakers was how they were taken out of their comfort zones and tested. And how the week introduced them to new friends and 
activities post RYLA including Salvation Army food parcel packing, and working with RYPEN.From a personal perspective your reporter always enjoys these evenings as they clearly show that going forward those who participate in RYLA are well grounded, have their heads screwed on and will make a worthy contribution to this country. It is quite inspiring.
If these people come through to leadership roles then the country will be in good hands.