Queanbeyan youth return transformed from 2022 Youth Mentoring Program Larapinta Trail trek

24 students from Goulburn, Braidwood and Queanbeyan recently completed a trek across the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory, which challenged them physically as much as mentally.

Youth services coordinator Luke Wallace said the group came together with different reasons for joining the Youth Mentoring Program but throughout the trek found surprising similarities between themselves.

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The program involves 20 weeks of mental and physical training in the lead-up to the final trekking challenge.

"It's amazing to see a transformation in young people as they start to achieve their goals," he said.

"At the start, it seems almost impossible to be physically capable to walk that far."

Mr Wallace said as the trip progresses, the mental aspects and teamwork combine with the physical aspects to make for a completely transformative experience.

"We find out what makes us tick and what we need to work on as individuals," he said.

"It's about giving our participants the opportunity to become the best version of themselves."

This was the second year the program has run and two Goulburn students returned from the previous year, including Tia Lambert as a peer mentor.

Crookwell High School student Bowen Murray joined the trip for the first time this year. He said he embarked on the trek expecting the physical challenge but didn't expect to have the mental transformation he did.

"My whole life I've been quite a nervous, shy and anxious boy but generally I would just put a blank face on and move through the crowd," he said.

"It definitely made me a lot less anxious... being put on this trek has made me a lot more forthgoing."

Bowen said he previously feared what the next 20 years would bring, filled with anxiety about what he should do with his life after high school. Now, he said instead of fearing the coming years, he looked forward to them.

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He fondly recalled one particular night on the trail when he sat down to chat with proud Wiradjuri and Yuin man Alfie Walker about what Country meant.

"Alfie said Country isn't a thing or a place but rather a feeling," he said.

"And that feeling is freeing, and what Country can do is heal, and that's what it did for me."

Mr Wallace said the trip focused on connecting to Country and parts of the trip were led by local Indigenous elders.

Another participant from Goulburn, Jaemin Boerma, said one of the most rewarding aspects of the program was seeing everyone else change as well as his personal transformation.

Mr Wallace acknowledged the program was not cheap to run and was grateful for the support provided by the Terry Campese Foundation, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, Misson Australia, Goulburn PCYC and Headspace.

"While the program only has a small reach, we're training up our new leaders, who will give back to the community," he said.

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