It was teamwork, focus and “quick thinking” that resulted in a group win for four Thames Valley St John Cadets.
A group of students marched their way to first place in the Senior Drill team and Inspection at the Hauraki/Coromandel District St John Cadets competition on August 4, which was held at The Goldmine Experience in Thames.
Hauraki Plains College student Kiarna Bergersen and Thames High School students Lexi Thomas, Skyla Swindells and Eli Lester made up the team of four who swept up the competition.
Hauraki Plains year 9 student Kiarna Bergersen told The Profile she was “over the moon” when she found out her team had won.
The thing Kiarna said she enjoyed most about being part of a drill team was working together and their quick thinking.
Being involved in St John was “a passion I always had” from a young age, Kiarna said.
“[It] may have stemmed from my parents being involved in search and rescue and aviation.
“My passion is still as strong as it was, as I hope to go into a medical related career,” she said.
Kiarna’s advice for other students interested in being a St John cadet was: “I definitely recommend joining”.
“Not only do you learn some valuable skills, but you’ll also meet people, make friends from across the region and have the opportunity to attend camps, leadership courses, competitions and inter-divisional activities.”
Across the Valley, Thames High year 9 student Lexi Thomas’ advice was “if you want to join, just find your local cadet group”.
Just go in, have a trial and see how you like it, she said.
“It’s not too bad on a CV either.”
For the competition, there was a part where the cadets needed to test out their skills and techniques on pretend patients.
Lexi said one of the challenges was that the patients were really good at acting “and that could be a struggle at times”.
Lexi, who wants to be a nurse one day, said she’d like to “get all the knowledge I can” because it will help in her career.
But the thing Lexi enjoyed most about being part of St John was the experiences and the friendships, she said.
“All four of us have got a connection.”
Fellow team mate and Thames High year 10 student Skyla Swindells said the most memorable moment for her was “just how shocked” people were that the group came first.
Skyla said she heard how surprised their regional manager was from the audience too.
Team members Skyla, Lexi and Kiarna had all been involved with cadets for around eight years, Skyla said.
Meanwhile, Thames High year 10 student Eli Lester said he had only been involved in cadets for two years.
Eli had a few ties to cadets with his little brother who had just joined, and an uncle who used to be involved too and was the youngest cadet to earn his Grand Prior Award, he said.
The Grand Prior Award is the ultimate Award for St John Cadets to obtain.
Eli, who was also the team leader, said the group was “pretty decent friends in real life”. The main thing Eli wanted to get out of St John was first aid knowledge, he said.
“If I didn’t do St John, I would not really know what to do if someone just passed out in front of me – but now I do.”
If something happens to someone, “then I can help them in some way”, Eli said.
His advice for students who wanted to join cadets was “just do it”.
“I wanted to do it for a couple of years, but I held off,” he said.
“If you even think about doing it, just do it… It’s been really fun.”
