The UWA Young Leaders Council (YLC) is a series of leadership workshops run by the UWA Student Guild and attended by Year 11/12 students across WA, which myself along with four other ASC students have elected to attend this year.

The first session, held on April 22 was entitled Inclusivity and Accessibility.

We began the day with some icebreakers, followed by splitting into small groups with students from other schools. Although slightly awkward at the start, within the first ten minutes we were all well acquainted and chatting away about our different experiences with being leaders at our school. I found it really interesting hearing about the leadership structures at different schools, and the many ways in which students were contributing to their school communities, while also sharing my own experiences.

The workshop also featured guest speakers who spoke to us about accessibility, along with UWA students and a UWA professor who each spoke to us about ethno-cultural inclusion. We were also scheduled to have a guest speaker lead a discussion on pride, however they were unable to make it. Instead, our final session consisted of a more in-depth discussion of what leadership looks like at our different schools and what we can bring back to help our own schools.

Hearing from people with lived experience gave me a much deeper understanding of the issues that center around accessibility and inclusivity. I also found it extremely rewarding to talk to so many like-minded young people and get to share our thoughts, ideas and experiences – forming connections that have lasted beyond the workshop.

This day was incredibly illuminating and I can’t wait to attend the next workshop.