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“This trip was the greatest experience of my life!”

At the end of year full of hurdles, determination, hard work and persistence, it’s important to celebrate!

This year, our Year 12 Pimlico Stars went on their very first end of year trip after the first year of Stars at their school. The destination of choice was Tasmania, as most of the students had never been there.

A quick stopover in Melbourne gave our young women a chance to visit the ‘Mandela: My Life’ exhibition at Melbourne Museum, as well as a tour around the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Museum with Cricket Australia’s Indigenous Engagement Specialist.

The next stop was Hobart, where our Stars walked the Tahume Forest on a steel canopy treetop walkway overlooking the Huon and Picton Rivers. It was great to see the girls face their fears and do it anyway!

Later they had an opportunity to explore a mix of old and new forms of government administration and public policy, with a visit to Port Arthur followed by some time at Hobart Town Hall, where they were hosted by the Mayor of Hobart, Anna Reynolds.

Ms Reynolds is a former student of Pimlico State High School and was delighted to take the students on a personal tour of the Town Hall and the Mayoral Office, answering their thoughtful questions about her personal and professional journey.

After some time in the State’s capital, a drive through the Tasmanian countryside to Burnie in the north sparked the students’ interest in the natural environment and conservation, which have been big issues in Tasmania in recent decades.

In Burnie, the girls visited the Little Penguin Observation Centre, where they were lucky enough to see a protected colony of delightful fairy penguins coming in from the ocean to the shore for nesting.

A stopover in Launceston included a visit to Cataract Gorge and the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, which featured the National Gallery’s exhibition ‘The National Picture: The Art of Tasmania’s Black War’.

Not only was the trip a celebration of a successful last year of school, it also gave our young women an opportunity to further develop their personal strengths and resilience (relationship building and being away family), and think more about their employment and community action goals.

Year 12 student, Aigaris Day, said the trip was “the greatest experience of my life. I am the first person out of my whole family to travel to Tasmania, also to travel without my family”.

Fellow student, Victoria Blundell, said “It was an amazing trip which was well organised and thought through to give the Superstars a chance to tour, learn and grow toward higher opportunity. [Our Stars Mentors] were incredible in caring for 10 young women for a whole week and I can’t thank them enough!”