From Youth Parliamentarian to Youth Governor to Volunteer Taskforce member to Y NSW intern, Lian’s journey with the Y has been grounded by one thing: her passion for creating change.
Like many things in life, her first encounter with the Y NSW was entirely by chance. In Year 11, while shadowing her local MP as part of a work experience program, Lian was encouraged to apply for Youth Parliament, the Y NSW’s flagship youth leadership and engagement program.
“I think I've always been interested in leadership. From a young age I always wanted to help people and bring people together,” Lian reflects.
With a passion for public speaking cultivated by her father, Lian set her sights on using her voice to create change – something that felt even more crucial because of her own experiences.
Having migrated to Australia at the age of three, Lian says she was one of two Indian students at school.
“I was very aware of that fact because everyone would come up to me and be like, ‘oh, what do you have for lunch? Your lunch smells so good’, physical differences, like my hair was super long because my mum wanted me to grow it out. So there were things that I was aware of, but I wasn't aware of diversity in leadership,” she says.
“As I've grown older, I'm definitely more aware of the world around me and I've noticed that there are some spaces that diversity is very present and there are other spaces where diversity is not. And so I think for me it's trying to push that diversity becoming a thing in every organisation, in every place that I walk into. And I like going into places and seeing that there is representation and there are women of colour, there are people of colour.
“I think that's so important because, looking back, I could have done so much more if I knew that there were people who look like me doing those things. And I kind of just paved that way for myself because no one else was doing it.”
Her experience at Youth Parliament was transformative.
“I think that just opened my eyes and the doors to a whole new world. For me, it was like discovering this new side and this new passion of mine,” Lian says.
“I feel like Youth Parliament really opened that boundary of advocacy and that was something that I was really passionate about – helping others and especially helping others find their voice and their story within such a chaotic world. Just finding the confidence to be able to speak up and be like, hey, this is something that I'm passionate about or this is something that I really hate but want to see some change around.”
Since that first year, Lian has returned to Youth Parliament as Youth Governor and as a volunteer. What keeps drawing her back is impact. “Just seeing the young people and seeing how much they grow and … being able to have that positive impact.”
Her experience has this year led her to the Y NSW internship program. Studying a Bachelor of Communications with a double major in social and political science, and writing and publishing, she sees the internship as a natural extension of her Youth Parliament involvement.
“I think, for me, it was knowing that I had more to give to the Y and … it was a step in my career direction.”
A key element of her growth during the internship has been learning more about herself – particularly through the lens of Gallup Strengths.
She now sees qualities she once questioned as assets. “These things are actually strengths of mine and not just things that I thought were weaknesses.”
Looking ahead, Lian is clear about where she wants her journey to lead. “After uni is finished, I actually want to be a program coordinator for young people’s services,” she says. “I want to be able to work with other young people to design programs that actually empower them and build their character outside of the schooling system.”
Her message to others considering the Y’s internship program reflects the same openness that started her own journey. “Definitely give it a go. Put yourself out there, it’s a good opportunity.”
“You never know where it’s going to take you.”
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