A letter to the BMCG about the SWYAP

Hi Karen

Sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch to tell you about the Young Achievers Program and to thank you and the theatre so much for your sponsorship!

I learnt lots of interesting things and enjoyed the atmosphere of the program. We did juggling, yoga, board-breaking (martial arts), logic and teamwork exercises, and even a bit of an acting class in the public speaking session! The public speaking stuff was definitely my favourite. It was run by the Bunbury Toastmasters public speaking group, and I was so impressed with them that I've joined! It's a good opportunity to improve my skills by getting the chance to practice lots in a supportive environment.

We also studied negotiation and networking skills, general communication for business and personal, time management (yay!), the importance of exercise and some financial investment stuff that went straight over my head!

The people who taught us were really awesome. David was our main 'leader' who went everywhere with us and he was a top bloke. Then there was this really funny Irish guy who used to work in Intelligence and knew all about us before he met us which was really creepy! Remind me to show you a thing he wrote about me - I actually thought he might have talked to you to find things out about me! Nathan Gardniner was a past participant of the program so he ran around with the video camera and organised bits and pieces. He was glad to see me there because he reckons it's been a while since they've had anyone on the program representing arts and culture. I guess that was the only downside really - that I didn't have much in common with the other young people because none of them were artists as such so they weren't really quirky or offbeat which is what I'm used to!

Overall it was a very unique and engaging experience. I've learnt practical skills and information that I'll use forever, and although I didn't make any lifelong friends among the other young people, I met some inspiring mentors from the community who will be good contacts, and I've joined Toastmasters, which can only be a good thing! So thank you again. It was an extremely worthwhile three days of my life.

Kate