Elma sings her way to Global Young Leaders’ Conference
Elma Akob is Hillcrest High School's SPAR Star of the Month.
HILLCREST High School’s deputy headgirl, Elma Akob, has received a prestigious invitation to the Global Young Leaders’ Conference in June, in partnership with the United Nations.
Nicola Kidgell, marketing and public relations officer at the school, said it is a great honour as only a handful of individuals in the whole of the African continent who show strong leadership potential, outstanding public speaking abilities and consistent academic excellence are invited.
Among her fundraising efforts to cover the cost of the trip, Elma is singing at various venues in Hillcrest. “Elma is a role model of excellence in highlighting Hillcrest High School’s pursuits of developing character within the community, as well as personal achievement, to be the best you can be. We think she is amazing and we are proud to share her story,” said Kidgell.
Elma was born in Cameroon and moved to South Africa with her family in 2008 due to her mother’s job relocation. Elma’s family is full of academic overachievers, who strive for excellence in all spheres of life.
After Elma completes her studies at Hillcrest High School, her dream is to study a degree in law or political science in Canada, and she said: “I’m doing all I possibly can to make this dream become a reality. Once I achieve my degree, I would like to complete an MBA and Doctorate degree because it has always been my dream to have ‘Dr’ attached to my name,” said Elma.
After achieving all of this, Elma hopes to invest all that she has learned back into South Africa by managing her own business or ‘becoming the president or doing both at the same time’, she said.
When asked how she fits all of this in while still completing her studies and being a teenager, she said that she does not indulge in typical teenage activities. Her hobbies comprise watching TED talks and debates about women empowerment and she correctly describes herself as ‘not your typical teenager’.
Elma’s parents had to move back to Cameroon recently, so she had to grow up quickly. This new-found maturity is what has led to her raising R40 000 for her trip in a month on her own, while staying in the top five in the grade for academics and leading the school as deputy headgirl.
This is an achievement she is right to be proud of and one her parents are still surprised by.
Elma is a self-proclaimed highly-competitive person and believes in nothing less than the best, and this attitude is what has led her to go for gold in her incredible fundraising efforts for the Global Young Leaders’ Conference. One of Elma’s favourite quotes to live by is that of author and coach, Gail Lynne Goodwin: “Strive to be called crazy for dreaming too big.”
Elma has not only dreamed big, but has seen to it that some of those dreams have already been realised.
She also participated in numerous youth upliftment programmes, leadership courses as well as various public speaking and debating achievements, winning several best speaker awards.
“I am going on this leadership course not only to represent my school but also to represent my community, my country and my continent. I do believe in the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, therefore I need the support of my community as a whole,” said Elma.
