The Islamic Museum of Australia

MA Education team member Amna was invited to Macloed college to present at their end of term assembly – read through her speech below for 5 tips to empower yourself in 5 minutes!

Hi everyone – my name is Amna and it’s an absolute pleasure to be a guest speaker at your assembly this morning.

Many of you may be sitting there thinking why on earth should I pay attention to what this tiny girl with too much energy for a Friday afternoon has to say, but I promise you I am going to try my best to leave you all with a bit of a boost to get through this afternoon and enjoy your weekend!

I remember being in school and having to sit through loads of assemblies, hoping that they would run overtime so that I could miss a bit of double maths. But today I’ve been told I only have 5 minutes so I’m going to make EACH ONE COUNT by telling you about 5 things that you should remember no matter how old you are as you move into the future.

NUMBER 1

CELEBRATE YOUR DIFFERENCES

Two things are going through my head right now.

ONE is how nervous I am feeling right now speaking to you all

And the second one to be honest is way more important.

As I look around I can see so many smiling, bubble, enthusiastic faces. I love books and my favourite subject at school was English so I’d like to think of you all as stories waiting be read in front of me right now.

What’s amazing about that is that you are all the main character and every story is different. No two stories are the same and in order to grow and develop it’s important that we learn and read each other’s stories so that we can continue writing our own.

Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the whole world. 50% of Australia’s population was born overseas, that means we have people from England, New Zealand, China, India, Vietnam, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Sri Lanka, South Africa and many, many other countries around the world. That’s amazing because we can learn so much about other people and celebrate the differences that make us unique.

NUMBER 2

TRY YOUR BEST

Going to school means that all of you get to learn about all sorts of subjects, Maths, Arts, Humanities, Sports, Sciences. Sometimes that means working out new and exciting material that your teachers help you with, or doing homework to make sure that you understand what you have learned.

What I want to remind you of today is one of the MOST IMPORTANT bits of ADVICE that I am 100% sure that every single one of your teachers would agree with and that is to TRY YOUR BEST.

We already discussed how we’re all different, right?

So that means not everyone enjoys the same subjects – that’s why at school you get the chance to experiment and try lots of them.

Every single person here today has a talent, has potential to do amazing things in the future.

Whether you want to be a baker, a teacher, a lawyer, an electrician, a gardener, an artist, or a fashion designer CHASE your dreams by giving everything you do YOUR BEST SHOT.

Trying your very best in all you do it what counts.

NUMBER 3

STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT

Life can be tricky for all of us in different ways.

It can be easy to lose sense of what’s important, trust me I do it all the time.

In our day to day actions if we all try and remember to be honest, to be kind, to be generous, to be thankful and respectful and to do good for others then we’re on the right track to helping each other out.

Because that’s what makes Australia great – is being there for your mates. Supporting them. Standing up for them and giving them a helping hand when things get tough.

NUMBER 4

SPREAD LOVE AND LIGHT

This leads me to number 4 which is to spread love and light.

How do you feel when someone gives you a smile, or a big squeezy hug? It makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and I don’t know about you but it helps keep a smile on my face for the whole day.

How amazing is it YOU could make someone’s day by giving them a smile?

Life’s better when we love each other, when we support each other – everyone wants to feel loved and everyone wants to share love.

There’s plenty to go around so at some point today try to give someone a smile and see how wonderful it makes THEM and YOU feel!

NUMBER 5

JUST BE YOU

To finish off I am going to share with you one of my most favourite quotes from the only and only Dr. Seuss: