Maringi Marsh will talk about the utopia of race unity and learn about the unity of different cultures as she does it.
Maringi, a student from Mount Maunganui College, is one of five secondary students competing in the Race Unity Speech Awards Tauranga regionals this week.
Maringi, 16, who entered last year and got to the national competition level in Auckland, says she heard about the speech contest from a teacher at school.
'My drama teacher came up to me and asked if I was keen to do a speech on racism,” says Maringi.
The contest sounded like an 'awesome way to widen my understanding of the world”.
The regional competition, which are heats for the national competition, are on Wednesday, March 23, at the Tauranga City Council offices.
First prize for the national competition is $2000, split between the winning student and their school.
The speeches can be presented in either English or Maori and are expected to be between seven to eight minutes long
The competition is open for secondary school students in Years 11-13.
This year, Maringi's speech will focus on 'utopia of race unity”, with the theme of the whole speech contest being ‘Stand up for race unity – don't be a bystander'.
'[I'm talking about] what our world would be like if we actually implemented the eradication of racism into our society, and how we can get there,” says Maringi.
'This year, I aim to learn more about the unity of all different cultures, while writing my speech and while presenting it.”
Maringi especially enjoys the experience the competition gives her and meeting new people interested in race unity.
'Meeting new people and hearing about their stories and opinions is definitely the best part.”
And even though she's done speeches before, both at a national level and at her school, Maringi is still nervous anyway.
'If I wasn't, I'd be worried. It's pretty nerve-racking speaking in front of people, because things could go wrong, or the audience could misinterpret the message; or they could just choose not to listen.”
The public is welcome to listen to the speeches from Tauranga students on Wednesday, March 23, at 7pm.
The speeches will be at the Library Arcade, Kaimai Room of the Council Chambers, 91 Willow St, Tauranga.