140 Year 10 students. 3 hours. 24 students put pen to paper and emailed us. A sample of what landed in our inbox.
The room
A few days after the seminar, an email landed in our inbox from a Year 10 student at St Hilda’s School. She’d just signed her own lease for a makeup studio. She was 16. She was scared. She told us why she signed it anyway.
23 more wrote in with stories of their own.
On 22 April 2026, Hope Unlimited ran with the 140 Year 10 students at St Hilda’s School, Southport. 3 hours, in their school hall. Pen
and paper. No phones. Quiet enough to think.
The seminar covers the 4 sub-skills that build hope: grit, optimism, courage and resilience. Students name their character strengths, write a vision they can actually see, and leave with one moonshot in their own handwriting.
In the days that followed, 24 students wrote in. They’d taken action. Here are some of them.
Before the cohort arrived. St Hilda’s School auditorium, 22 April 2026.
In their own words
This is some of the feedback that came in…
Theme 1. Purpose is something you commit to
“I’ve realised now that purpose and identity aren’t something we just have. It is something we must commit to, to create for ourselves. You have shifted the way I view purpose, importance, vision and commitment.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“Your speech today gave me final clarity of something that I’ve always known. It’s given me this new feeling that the only person stopping me from going after what I’ve always wanted is me, and that if I really want this, I have to commit.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“What you said about being there to get us ‘committed’ and not to just inspire us really stood out to me. Thank you for encouraging me to think more seriously about my goals.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
— Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
Theme 2. The vocabulary that stuck
“What you said about ‘getting back on the path’ really resonated with me. I especially connected with your idea of planting a seed, watering it, and pulling out the weeds daily, as well as understanding the different seasons of growth. It made me realise that success is a process, and that I need to stay patient and consistent rather than expecting immediate results.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“Your words have truly stuck with me. I’ve realised that purpose, talent and passion isn’t something we just have, but it’s something that needs consistency and commitment for it to grow. Today I learned that there’s a difference between turning up and showing up.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
— Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
Theme 3. From self-doubt to self-belief
“The way you spoke and the words you said gave me this new found confidence in myself that I didn’t know I had. My whole life I have put these self-expectations that what I am not enough, and that what I achieve is never enough. Hearing you tell a whole room with such passion that we are all enough, and that it’s not a truth, it’s THE truth, really had a massive impact on me.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“Nobody had ever really spoken with such honesty as well as you do, which is what made me realise what I’m doing wrong. I’ve always been scared and demotivated easily, but your words lifted me, and I’m starting to work towards the things that make me happy, without giving up.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“I experienced a bad period towards the end of last year. I was on the verge of depression. I tried going to the doctor and to a psychologist, but nothing was helping. I thought that nothing or no one would ever be able to ‘fix me’. Your words today have helped me realise that nothing is wrong with me and that I never needed ‘fixing’, and I thank you so much for that.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
Theme 4. Action by Monday morning
“I have made my vision board and stuck it on the wall, so I see it every morning. I also completed my character survey and put it into ChatGPT, which gave me a full plan for how to achieve my dream of becoming a paediatric doctor and, much later in the future, owning my own clinic.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“Right now, I’m currently creating the habit of going on the treadmill for 20 minutes each day, and increasing after 30 days of consistency. I recently just signed my own lease to a makeup studio, and I’ve been really scared. It’s scary starting a business, but after your session today I feel no fear, because I know at my core this is my purpose and it’s what I love.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“I went on a walk and run with my best friend and my dog after school, and as we walked along the beach watching the sun set, I felt more grateful and present in my life than I have in a while.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
“I have taken a lot of information out of it, and I am ready to implement a lot of that into my day-to-day life.”
Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
— Year 10 student, St Hilda’s School
What this feedback tells us
Three things worth noting, for the teacher reading this.
Action follows vocabulary.
The emails that mention specific words from the seminar (committed, show up, planted seed, getting back on the path) are the same emails that name a specific action taken. Vocabulary travels home.
Year 10 will write to you when something lands.
24 students took action and wrote to tell us. No one assigned it. No teacher chased it. That’s the signal we’re looking for. Compliance doesn’t send emails. Connection does.
The Monday morning test.
A vision board on a wall. A treadmill habit on day 1. A makeup studio lease taken without fear. A beach walk at sunset and a sense of gratitude returning. None of those need a follow-up program. They need a cognitive reset, then space to act.
From a teacher
“I was overwhelmed with some of the messages they sent you. I feel such gratitude towards you and the message you can impart to our young people. Thank you. What you do makes a difference.”
St Hilda’s School teacher, by email after the seminar
About the work
Hope Unlimited
Hope Unlimited is a 3-hour social and emotional wellbeing seminar for Years 9 to 12. In person, on your campus, in your hall. Pen and paper. No phones. Quiet enough to think. Students leave with their character strengths named, a vision they can see, and one moonshot in their own handwriting.
About Glen
Glen Gerreyn is the founder of The HopeFULL Institute. Former Young Australian of the Year (Queensland, Community Service). 750 schools. More than 1 million young people. He’s based in Brisbane, a father of 4, and a lifelong student of human flourishing. He leads with story, then strategy. He doesn’t swear to win the room.
Glen Gerreyn
Founder, The HopeFULL Institute
Want to talk about a date for your school?
Here’s how to reach us.
hello@thehopefullinstitute.com
+61 7 3348 9572
www.thehopefullinstitute.com