08 Oct 2011
In week 5, students of year 9 were greeted by Rugby League Canterbury Bulldogs player Corey Payne. He was there with his assistant Tara White. He explained to all of us about setting goals and trying to achieve them. Because we year 9 students are in a stage where we have to make hard decisions we have to make sure that these choices are right so we can have a bright future. So to tell us this, he set up a presentation that took us through his earlier life, from when he was just a small kid playing in his domestic footy team, the Chester Hill Hornets to now, all grown up and playing professional for the Bulldogs. Gee! A lot does change.
He also told us that if you want to achieve something, you have to see yourself achieving it, by planning a realistic goal and also never giving up on it. It is like the old saying ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail'. We were also told that a sporting career will only take you so far and that when the time comes when you are too old for the running around, it is very important to have a good education. It is important to study something you like and you're good at, at University or TAFE.
At the end of it I was lucky to shake Corey Payne's hand. And boy! I was shaking inside. I couldn't believe I was shaking someone's hand that I see getting tackled and dumped all over the place on T.V. Some other chosen students were picked to get a group photo with Tara and Corey. He even personally signed some Bulldogs posters for the year 9's, which must have cost a fortune.
This was the best period of the day!
Delian Kotevski
Year 9 SRC