Para-alpine skier Melissa Perrine captured the hearts of the nation at the Paralympic Games, and on Monday she had the undivided attention of Mittagong Public School students.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Perrine visited the school to meet the students, talk about her medal-winning performances and offer her advice at a school assembly.
The speech left an impression on many of the students, including year five student Jimmy Brown and year six student Millie Noble.
“I took a lot from [the speech], it’s about not doubting myself,” Millie said.
“We don’t usually have people from the Highlands go to the Paralympics, it’s usually from Sydney or Canberra. Having someone from down here going there, it’s super inspirational.”
During the assembly the students had the opportunity to ask questions and look at Perrine’s bronze medals.
“It’s pretty cool that she’s been to our school [for the assembly] and she was taught at our school,” Jimmy said. “It’s pretty crazy that I know someone who’s got bronze.”
Mittagong Public School parent Fred Martin said his children Mia and Blake were inspired by Perrine, and the opportunity to meet her made them feel like competing on the world stage wasn’t an impossible dream.
“The kids were blown away that someone with impaired vision could reach such a high goal,” he said.
“Maybe one day, now that they’ve met Melissa, they’ll end up in the Olympics. It’s not impossible.”
Perrine said she hoped the speech encouraged the students to work towards their dreams.
“Anything is possible. Even though you may have to change the way you do something or adopt different ways of doing things, you can do anything you want,” she said.
“If it’s hard or challenging, you can definitely work towards it and the enjoyment and fun is worth it.”
