Loren O'Sullivan - Issue 5

Written by Molly McCarthy

At the tender age of 18, AIMES Award winner for Service to Community winner Loren O’Sullivan has been youth voice advocate for the ministry of youth development  programme ‘provoke’ as well as a youth representative on the Northcote/Birkenhead community board.  Loren’s dedication to youth rights and issues within the community has not gone unnoticed – she was elected co-chairperson of the North Shore Youth Council in 2007.

Now at University, Loren hopes to continue work within the community and Politics in New Zealand, utilising her own common sense to turn things around.  Her ongoing community work and involvement recently led her to receive the AIMES award for service to the community.

 When Loren O’Sullivan declares “You’ll hear from me in a few years”, there is little doubt that she’ll live up to this promise.
Molly McCarthy spoke to Loren about the award, her work in the community and her hopes for the future of dirty ol’ New Zealand politics.

Congratulations on winning the AIMES award for Service to the Community – how did that feel?
Well actually, to tell you the truth, I was really surprised that I won it in the first place but it wasn’t until the night that it struck me ‘cause when I saw the other people that were receiving the awards and what they had done and just being up on the stage it was a really surreal moment. I couldn’t actually believe it was really happening. It was awesome.

How has receiving the award affected what you do?
It’s made me more conscious of what I can do in the community - just to not break that link. It’s made me think more about what I want to do in the future.

What first inspired you to get involved with the community?
To tell you the truth it was just through school that I got involved. Obviously some of the teachers saw leadership potential so first of all one of my teachers suggested I go along to (North) Shore Youth Council. And through that I got a leadership position there and just looked out for opportunities around me where I could help or make a contribution. It’s just through one little suggestion that I got to one meeting and it spiraled from there.

You seem to do a lot with youth – is this an area you hope to work with in the future?
I think initially it’s to do with youth because I am youth, so it’s easy for me to get involved with that. To make sure that youth priorities are looked after in the future. But as I get older I think I’m going to focus on the environment. That’s one of my major passions, looking out for the planet and all that – being greenie, hippy, whatever you want to call it.
  
I suppose you could say climate change but then I think it’s just everything to do with the way we treat our environment. I just think councils and the government need to think more about what they’re doing for the future generations – sustainability and all that.
  
What have you learnt about New Zealand politics as a result of being on numerous councils?
It’s been really interesting, a big learning curve. It actually made me want to get away from all of it for a while. But I thought if I run away from this, nothing’s going to change. But if I get involved, if people who actually have some common sense get involved, they can turn things around a bit. Rather than letting the generally politically minded people get in and take hold. Let normal people take the power.

What would you like to see changed about councils and government in New Zealand in the future?
Just working towards a more sustainable future, and also, obviously, promoting social justice. I don’t have any specific idea right now but I’m sure it’ll come in the future.

What are the best experiences you’ve had as a result of being involved with the community?
Just being involved, meeting and hearing the ideas of lots of different young people from all over the country has been awesome. I went to Youth Parliament last year and that was an eye-opener – just to see the great mix of people in the country. Before I thought youth think in the same kind of way, ‘cause you know, we’re all the same age, we have the same perception of things. But being in Youth Parliament, you got to hear people talking about a range of issues and they all had different opinions and it was because they’d been brought up differently. And it was like, what the hell? I thought you guys were my age. I thought you’d all think in the same way!

So was there quite a big variation between different areas?
It was sort of like they were adults. I don’t know if they were just talking from what their parents say, but we were sitting in this group of maybe ten people and I think maybe the abortion issue came up and going around the table you heard all these things, “In my opinion…” or, “According to what I think…” And I was like, my gosh this is so funny – just not what I expected.   

What would you like to see changed about youth affairs in New Zealand?
I’d like to see youth have greater recognition ‘cause there are so many young people doing amazing things and they’re not really recognised – the media always focuses, obviously, on the few people that get into trouble and that’s definitely not the majority.

Tell me a bit more about the Youth Café in Takapuna.
It changed from Youth Café to a bands night, so every Friday night we had bands come in and play and young people coming in and listening and dancing to music and supporting their friends. I’ve been to a few youth council meeting this year and they’re still continuing on with it so that’s really cool ‘cause whenever you set up a project it’s really annoying to see it fade away. Even though I’m not really involved with that so much anymore it’s still carrying on.

You’ve obviously achieved a great deal in the past few years – do you have any advice for young people who want to get involved with the community?
I would just say that our community’s really insular sometimes, we all look at ourselves. But there’s so much benefit if you look around you and see the opportunities that are there because by helping others you’re actually helping yourself. That’s what my main message would be.

So you’re at University at the moment - what are your plans for the future?
I really enjoy law so I’m going to try and keep going with that and doing environmental things but I’m sort of not sure – I love my languages – I do French and I love that and I want to learn Spanish and German so I’ve got all these things that I want to do! It will happen. Let’s just say, you’ll hear from me in a few years.