Māngere College head student Safa says being part of MC Active has increased her confidence and changed her as a person. MC Active is the school’s physical activity and wellbeing council, developed with support from Active As and made up of students who don’t think of themselves as sporty.

Since Active As was introduced in 2023, the school’s voice of rangatahi survey results shows more students are being active at break and lunchtimes (from 46% to 57%) and more feel a sense of belonging at school (from 51% to 59%).

Below, Safa shares how joining MC Active has taken her from being non-active to receiving a prize at last year’s sports prizegiving.  

This may sound drastic, but as a more academically oriented person, MC Active didn’t just change how active I am, it changed how confident I feel, how social I’ve become and how balanced my lifestyle is.

“It helped me realise I’m not as ‘non-active’ as I used to think.” 

Because of this support, I changed as a person. Instead of spending time and breaks in the library, I started grabbing my racquet and running to the gym whenever badminton was on.

Every term we get a week where we are sorted into groups and have to research, plan and run a variety of unique activities for students during break times. These include indoor and outdoor games. We noticed how groups of students started looking forward to these activities and new people were joining in every day. 

Gradually, as I started planning and refereeing these sessions, I realised that I really enjoy these different games and activities that I never even thought I would enjoy like pickleball, quizzes and karaoke. 

I’m grateful for every opportunity MC Active has given me, from participating in tournaments to leading activities and building a community around being active. It is one of the reasons I’m satisfied with how my high school experience is going.

All these experiences built up to one moment that meant a lot to me, receiving a Sports Award for badminton. I’m usually the person who helps host the Sports Awards event, watching students I barely know receive recognition. But 2025 was different. I was on stage for a different reason, a reason I’m proud of. A reason that, a year ago, I wouldn’t even have dreamed of. 

About the author:

Safa, 17, is a Year 13 student at Māngere College. She is a Head Student of the school and thrives academically and now in sport too. In 2025, she earned the award for Scholar of the Year during Senior Prizegiving and two awards for Badminton Player of the Year and Players Player. She is the second eldest of 4 and sets a great example for her younger siblings to follow in her active footsteps.