Over the Term One holidays, Year 11 student Abigail Brooker participated in her first Rural Youth Ambassador forum down in Melbourne. Lots of activities were undertaken, including meeting with Senior members of the Department of Education, Resource Smart schools, Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, The Victorian Student Representative Council and the team at RMIT University.

"It was the first of four forums and we discussed networking and how we can network within our community. We also looked at advocacy and the challenges of trying to advocate in rural communities and how we can overcome these," Abigail commented.

"It was a good opportunity for me to meet my 22 fellow rural youth ambassadors from across Victoria, but it also prompted me to think about the changes I can advocate for both in my school and in the wider community. The best part of the experience was meeting all the fellow ambassadors and learning from their leadership styles and the change we want to see in our communities," she added.