David with Pat Ball from the Supported Learning team
2019 is shaping up to be a great year for David Bell, who is a student in our Supported Learning programme.
He recently competed at the 2019 Asian Pacific Weightlifting championships on the Gold Coast, where he took out the gold medal for his age and weight class and set three Oceania records.
Supported Learning Superstar
David started studying at Unitec in 2017 after attending Western Springs College. He’s motivated, hard-working and friendly – a real asset to our Supported Learning programme.
When he came to us, his lecturer Pat Ball said “he already had his life skills sorted – he had a job for a few hours a week, he’d saved money to buy a car and had worked on getting his driver’s licence. He was doing some great stuff. That first term was all about getting used to being at Unitec, and making up his mind about attending full time.”
David moved to full-time study in 2018, and this year he’s back, with a focus on exploring his options for work. He’s doing what he can to get himself ready for employment – by gaining his first aid certificate and security licence, with assistance from his Poppa as his reader/writer.
He’s enjoying the course here, which includes everyday life skills, health and safety, event management and communication skills. He knows these skills are important. “It’s preparing yourself for work, being on time and all that.” David said.
Last year, David was the poster boy for Supported Learning, featuring in a promotional video on the Unitec website “One of the teachers, Dave Hicks, asked if I wanted to be in the video. I did it freestyle, no scripts. I don’t mind the camera – doing powerlifting is a good confidence builder; when you’re competing, people are always looking at you.”
Champion Powerlifter
David lifting at an earlier Special Olympics competition.
The Supported Learning team has a closed Facebook page where they share news with each other, from within Unitec and in their outside lives. Recently the page was filled with photos and videos of David competing, and on the podium.
David says he got into powerlifting (which is different to weightlifting, in that it involves the back squat, the bench press and the dead lift), in 2017 when he joined Special Olympics Powerlifting team and participated in competitions in and out of Auckland. He did so well that the gym owner recommended he try lifting in mainstream competitions. Last year he competed in the Auckland Champs and New Zealand Nationals where he broke three New Zealand sub-junior records and won a gold medal.
The new watch!
He loves the adrenaline he gets from training, and having goals to work towards. “It’s fun, it’s just an ‘average Joe’ sport. In the Gold Coast comp there were teachers, doctors, and a flight attendant”.
So what were those winning lifts at the Asian Pacific champs? David won Gold in his age and weight class for a 285kg back squat, a 162.5kg bench press and a 252.5kg dead lift – totalling 700kg. Wow! As a treat to himself, David bought a very fancy new watch, which he says is very handy for getting to class on time.
Looking forward, David is training for another competition in five months. He’s also aiming to get some work experience in security, and has long-term aspirations to work with animals – particularly dogs.
If you have any work experience opportunities available (either at Unitec or in the community) for David or his Supported Learning peers, please contact Pat Ball.
So great to read about David’s success, huge congratulations!
Great to read David’s story and hear about his journey and successes! He’s an awesome role model for others!