Mentoring role keeps kids in the country
by Thel Krollig
While
it’s sometimes said "you can take the girl out of the country but
you can’t take the country out of the girl", there’s no such wish
for UniSA graduate and South Australia’s Young Australian of the
Year, Laura Long (pictured below).
Long, 24, is reversing the trend of young people leaving rural and regional South Australia and heading for the bright city lights. And it’s her enthusiasm for country life and her desire to keep young people in the country that won her the accolade of South Australia’s Young Australian of the Year.
"Too many young rural and regional South Australians are lured to the big cities to pursue education and training opportunities, and then they are lost to the community," said Long, who lives in Coonalpyn.
Long is Regional Skills Training traineeship program manager and has built up a successful program with more than 100 trainees and five part-time regional coordinators across rural and regional South Australia.
"I gained a lot of ‘real life’ knowledge from my studies at UniSA. I felt well prepared facing my first teaching practicum and I have taken that experience with me into my mentoring role."