Logan Park High School pupil Oscar McGuire and Otago Girls' High School pupil Hayley Dick (both 17) have been chosen to represent New Zealand in the 2018 Global Development Tour as United Nations youth International delegates.
They are among 22 secondary school pupils from across the country selected to spend much of January next year travelling to New York, where they will attend the prestigious Columbia University Model United Nations Conference and Exposition, and the United Nations headquarters.
They will also travel to London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Geneva and Copenhagen, meet high-profile international diplomats and learn more about the United Nations' sustainable development goals.
Both were very excited about the trip ahead.
Both said it would be an inspiring trip which they hoped would show them how to make meaningful change in the world.
``It's an awesome opportunity to see a lot of those places through a United Nations lens,'' Oscar said.
``It will give us a taste of life as a United Nations diplomat. This trip will show us practically the kinds of jobs that people have and the work they do.''
The duo said they were looking forward to meeting some high-profile UN diplomats.
``It would be really interesting to meet them and see how they got to their position - what they did and everything they went through,'' Hayley said.
Both were also particularly keen to meet former United Nations Development Programme administrator and New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
``She's really genuine. She'd be amazing to meet,'' she said.
Both were selected for their outstanding speaking and debating skills, particularly Oscar, who was third-equal at the New Zealand Lions Young Speechmaker Competition at the weekend.
