“I would say, oh I’m Māori. I’m Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Ruanui. You’d get challenged. You’d get oh, but how much Māori? What percentage are you?”

Jess Thompson is a poet and illustrator who goes by the name of Māori Mermaid. She shares with us her identity crisis as she tries to reconcile her Māori and Pākehā identity.

The Outliers is a series profiling impressive young people from minority backgrounds who are standing out from their peers.

Made with support from NZ On Air.