When it comes to inspirational students, it’s hard to go past ACG Tauranga’s Claire Ma. The magnanimous 17- year-old was recently recognised by YWCA as one of 25 women under 25 who are making a difference in New Zealand.
Since emigrating from China six years ago, Claire has successfully navigated a new culture, a new language, and a new lifestyle. While that would be enough of a challenge for many of us, for Claire it merely served as a seedbed for devoting her time to others.
“Mum and I are people who love giving back to the community,” she explains. “Because of our language and cultural differences, settling in was quite intimidating and I wasn’t very confident at school at the time. We both encountered difficulties when we first arrived in New Zealand, but we found people in the community who we could talk to when we were feeling stuck. That really helped me settle in, and that’s what really inspired me to devote my services and time back to such an incredible community.”
7 Cups
Claire’s first step was becoming a volunteer listener for 7 Cups, an international platform similar to New Zealand’s Youthline. She was just 13 at the time.
“Being there for people and being able to listen to their stories was an incredibly fulfilling role. I learnt so much about facing life with gratitude and excitement through discussing and providing the best support I could to those members who took a very brave step to come to our platform and share their stories.”
Covid connections
When Covid hit, Claire transformed it into another opportunity to do good, designing an app to connect senior citizens with volunteers who could help with things like grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions. She won a Young Innovators Award for her efforts.
“After winning YIA, I got an internship opportunity with local tech company Cucumber, and there I talked with their product design engineer, UI/UX engineer and logistics engineer staff about building a better version of the app. It was a surreal experience!”
Letters to Strangers
With an award-winning app under her belt, Claire then tackled her next altruistic project, founding the New Zealand chapter of Letters to Strangers, the world’s biggest youth-run non-profit seeking to destigmatize mental illness.
“I would describe Letters to Strangers as a place where you meet people by reading their stories. It’s a comfortable space for people who don’t have a community to share personal stories with or who are not ready to do so face-to-face. By providing an online and physical domain, we bring the community to them so they can share their stories and get to know others.”
Balancing act
Claire launched Letters to Strangers NZ at the end of 2021, the first year she transferred to ACG Tauranga.
“I was managing IGCSE and A-Level exams as I gathered documents, managed the paperwork around establishing a non-profit and started the recruiting process. I began on my own, but I wasn’t on my own for long. Many brilliant people have joined me on this journey and in two years we’ve built an incredible initiative that’s supported over 600 people across New Zealand. Being recognised through YWCA’s Y25 list means so much because it recognises the efforts I put in, and means that my commitment to my community has made a significant impact.”
Back to school
While a great deal of Claire’s time is dedicated to her out-of-school community work, she’s also deeply passionate about the strong sense of community that emanates from within the school gates. She’s part of the Interact Club and a student leader in the Arts Pillar, both of which enable her to give back to the ACG community.
“ACG Tauranga is such a unique and inspiring community – everyone is so talented and confident, and we’re always keen to try out new stuff. I got my scuba diving license with one of my classmates earlier this year, which is something I never thought I’d achieve. Students are always there to support each other and the study sessions we organise together are very refreshing.”
Claire moved to ACG in Year 11, having skipped Year 10, but her initial concerns over settling in and thriving in her subject classes were unfounded.
“The immense support I had from my tutors and the Dean made me feel so much more confident. I was always encouraged to give everything a shot in my subjects and there was a strong sense of connection in my year level that allowed me to focus on my priorities.”
Bright future ahead
So where to next for the remarkable teen? “I’m going to continue Letters to Strangers New Zealand and hope one day to turn it into a charity! I want to become a dentist in the future, so I’m excited about continuing my community work through dentistry, either creating new prototypes or providing accessible dental care for rural regions.”
