This year we have been profiling a member of the Dunstan Manukura and sharing their assembly message with our school community. At our last assembly on the 6th May we heard from our Pou Māori Tane, Reuben Mills.

School can get a bit full-on sometimes. Deadlines stack up, expectations creep in, and it might look like everyone else has their life sorted but honestly, most people are just winging it and doing what they can. People don’t really talk about that part, so it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one behind, even when you’re not.

You don’t need to have everything figured out or be some kind of genius to get through it. It’s more about just giving things a go, messing up here and there, and having another crack. Everyone slips up, it’s part of it. What actually makes a difference is not quitting the second something gets hard. Progress is usually pretty quiet and slow, and half the time, you don’t even notice it until later.

Try to focus on what you actually want, not what everyone else reckons you should do.  Even when there’s pressure coming from all directions, at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to live with your choices. It could be a career, a skill, or even just proving to yourself that you can improve at something you used to struggle with. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be huge or perfectly planned out, it just has to matter to you. 

And yeah, the small stuff matters more than people think. Doing a bit of extra study when you can, asking one more question even if you’re not sure, putting in effort when you’d rather just leave it, it all adds up over time. Those little decisions don’t seem like much in the moment, but they build habits, and those habits make things easier down the line. It’s not about suddenly having everything click in one big moment; it’s just consistency over time.

It’s also okay to not be “on” all the time. Some days you’ll be more productive than others, and that’s normal. You don’t have to be perfect every day to still be making progress. Even doing the bare minimum on a rough day is better than doing nothing at all.

If you’re feeling stuck, don’t overthink it too much, just talk to someone. A teacher, your parents, or a couple of mates. Most of the time, people are more willing to help than you expect, and just saying things out loud can make everything feel a bit less heavy. You’re not meant to figure everything out on your own.

At the end of the day, just keep things moving, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. You don’t need to have a perfect plan or a clear path right now. Just take the next step, then the next one after that. It might not feel like much in the moment, but it does get you somewhere.