ASBNZ Conference

By Michael Crosson. | Posted: Thursday May 20, 2021

Last week I had the esteemed privilege of attending the annual Head Prefect Conference up in Auckland, where 37 lads from boys' schools across New Zealand got together for two days.

Landing in the big smoke myself and Mr Hall were carted off to the Hilton, a hotel I would be very, very lucky to attend again in my lifetime. From there it was straight into getting to know the other guys over a big spread of fish and chips. Already it felt slightly daunting to be in the presence of some of New Zealand’s highest achievers, but at the same time such a great opportunity to be able to talk over shared experiences of the year.

Day Two saw us head out to a seminar with ex-SAS personnel, holding a talk about how to cope with stress and difficult times in leadership. The personal accounts of some of the situations they were in was quite an eye-opener, and really put into perspective the issues I consider to be big in my life. This was followed by Q&As from inspirational guests Sir Graham Henry and Mike Bush, whose own life experiences held many pearls of wisdom for us young guys to use for our own personal lives.

Overall, I feel incredibly lucky to have been a part of the conference I know that the people I met and connections made with other lads won’t be broken easily. A massive thanks to all those involved who helped make it possible.