Youth Gathering of the Province and District(August 20–24) at N.D. de l’Hermitage
We are delighted to have 6 Young Marists from the District participate in the upcoming Youth gathering!
Here are some interviews with our wonderful participants
Lennon Brisbane -St Johns Alumni, Dundee, Scotland
Hello! My name is Lennon, I went to St John’s RC High School in Dundee, Scotland. I have just left High School and away to start my journey to university, in Glasgow. I am fascinated with Formula 1 and have a passion for Physics and Astronomy. I will be starting my degree in Astrophysics in September.
My Marist Leadership journey started 3 years ago, when I was selected to become a Marist Leader. We built a team, generated ideas and fed them back to L’Hermitage with the other Scottish and Irish schools. Since then, we have organised countless social events and fundraisers that gave me a platform to further develop my social skills and showed me the true meaning of the Marist Values.
Cherished memories were made back in 2022 when I had the chance to visit Lyon. It is with hope that more memories are created, and that we all have a great time. I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to L’Hermitage and visit with a different outlook. I’m looking forward to working with others and being able to share what being Marist means to me, and to learn what it means to others.
Maya Nasaar, St Josephs Alumni, Dumfries, Scotland
Hi I’m Maya, and this year I finished my sixth and final year of secondary school. Over the course of this year I have been studying Chemistry, Biology, and History at Advanced Higher level. Now my exams are finished, I look forward to a year out travelling the world with my best friend and in September we leave Scotland behind for Greece, volunteering at an animal shelter. As an animal lover, it is my ambitions to go on and study veterinary medicine in 2026 after exploring more of our planet!
I became a Year 1 Marist leader in 2022, and first attended L’Hermitage in the September of 2023. On my first trip, I participated in many fantastic team building activities with other Marist Leaders from across different parts of Scotland and Ireland. Building relationships which would last me through to the following year when I returned to L’Hermitage in the September of 2024 as a Year 2 Marist leader. Coming back last year granted me the chance to reconnect with friends I had made the previous year as well as take on a more active leadership role as this time I was the one leading the activities for the Year 1 leaders!
This year I hope to develop as a Marist individual and connect with even more wonderful people through the Youth Experience at L’Hermitage! I am excited to return, gain more experience and create new lasting memories by strengthening my faith.
Dawid Syper, Moyle Park College Alumni, Dublin Ireland
My name is Dawid Syper, I am 20 years old, Polish/Irish and an alumni of Moyle Park College in Clondalkin, Dublin. I graduated in May 2024 after 6 years of being a part of the Marist community in Moyle Park.
After graduating I embarked on a new journey with Inchicore College Of Further Education, completing a tourism and cabin crew operations course. My biggest passion and love is travelling which I dedicate a lot of my free time to and I hope to pursue as a career in the future. Apart from that I love animals, music, parties and having the craic.
My journey Marist community began in 2018 when I enrolled in Moyle Park College. I was 13 years old and lost but the Marist leader were there to guide us and help us settle in, and this was my introduction to the Marist way. Years went by and my education was massively disturbed by the covid-19 pandemic, once that passed however my opportunity came to become a marist leader myself, which I decided to take to help out in the same way that I was helped. I had the opportunity to travel to L'hermitage in October 2022, which was a life changing experience for me, making lasting friendships with other Marist communities and strengthening my passion for my role as a Marist leader.
My hopes for the upcoming L'hermitage trip are to look at my role in the Marist community as an alumni with a new lens, and take on new experiences with the Marists, and hopefully becoming more involved now that I have graduated and I'm moving into a new chapter of my life.
Matthew McKenna, Moyle Park College Alumni, Dublin, Ireland
My name is Matthew, I'm a 19 year old graduate from Moyle Park College. I finished in Moyle Park in 2025, and now I am studying English and Geography in UCD. After my course is finished I hope to make my way into teaching and maybe come back to Moyle Park one day.
My journey with the Marist leaders started at the end of my 4th year. After applying to the leadership programme I was excited to start. Helping out with all of the events such as darkness into light, first year introductions and our halloween hangouts made me feel helpful around the school. Doing work with the Marist Brothers living on campus added to that and I'm glad to say that I have bettered as a person since joining.
During the Youth experience in L'Hermitage, I hope to keep developing as a person. I also hope to meet people who are similar to me, and make friendships that can grow even after the event.
Naima Arif, St Johns Alumni, Dundee
I am a graduate from St John’s RC High School in Dundee, in my senior year I studied 2 advanced highers and 2 highers.
I am planning to go on to become a midwife and then specialise in sonography.
My journey with the Marist Leader programme has been long from first being introduced to the program in third year in 2022. I visited L’Hermitage in Lyon, France with the Marist brothers and really enjoyed the team building and learning more about St Marcellin. I have continued to develop my skills with my Marist team at school as we all bring our qualities to the team.
My hopes for the Youth experience in L’Hermitage is that I hope people are able to develop and build on their skills especially communication and teamwork as those are crucial for the experience but also to learn the true meaning of the Marist Values and learn to love them and apply them to their everyday lives and of course I hope everyone has fun!
