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Speaker 1: One of the people who has been through the program

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Speaker 1: is Maddie Phillips, who went through as around a fourteen

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Speaker 1: year old. Fifteen year old back in twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 1: Maddie is here with me today, still involved with Operation Flinders. Maddie,

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Speaker 1: good morning, welcome, good morning, Thank you for your time,

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Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. So you were you were

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Speaker 1: quite young. What did you think when you were told

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Speaker 1: you're going on this? Did you have a choice?

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Speaker 2: Well, it was a choice. I did get offered the

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Speaker 2: opportunity at school. Originally I wasn't part of the eight

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Speaker 2: participants that we're going to go up on not Flinders,

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Speaker 2: but I feel the kids dropped out and the opportunity

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Speaker 2: got given to me. I'm going to say too. When

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Speaker 2: I searched it online, I was expecting greenlands grass.

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Speaker 3: You get that. It's dead.

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Speaker 2: It's just rocks, dirts and everything you can imagine, dead bushes.

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Speaker 2: It's definitely not what you search online because it is.

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Speaker 1: On the I mean, it's in the outback, but it

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Speaker 1: is the verge of the desert as well. Isn't it

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Speaker 1: the very northern part of the Flinders.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hot, it gets very very hot. Flies.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what's winter, like what's next weekend?

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Speaker 2: Like the weather is, you can't depend on it. It's

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Speaker 2: either going to be super super flooded wet or it's

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Speaker 2: going to be super super dry.

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Speaker 3: It just depends on what time of the year. Doing.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you've you've gone on a ten hour bus

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Speaker 1: trip or whatever, whatever length of the time it took.

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Speaker 1: What was the thought there, Now, have you made the

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Speaker 1: right call?

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Speaker 2: Still at that stage, Well, well, I got on the

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Speaker 2: bus at four am in the morning. It's definitely considered

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Speaker 2: not going. I was really really worried, nervous, as I said,

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Speaker 2: obviously there's expected green lands and then didn't end up

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Speaker 2: becoming green lands. But once you get there, you start

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Speaker 2: to shock, like you realize, oh my gosh, this we're

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Speaker 2: in the middle of nowhere. Where where are we? Like

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Speaker 2: I have no clue where we are? Am I going

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Speaker 2: to make it out? And then you get off the

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Speaker 2: bus and you've just got these two volunteer team leaders

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Speaker 2: assistant team leader waiting for you, get your pack, put

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Speaker 2: your clothes in, We're gone. We're walking right now, right here,

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Speaker 2: And it's like what, Like I'm trying to still trying

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Speaker 2: to process that I'm in the middle of nowhere.

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Speaker 1: Like yeah, and you are in the middle of there's

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Speaker 1: no buildings.

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Speaker 2: There's no buildings, yeah, nothing nothing, just horizon, just a horizon,

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Speaker 2: just rising and mountains and hills and dirt.

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Speaker 1: Well, and so you start walking and start walking. How's

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Speaker 1: everyone feeling yourself? And everyone the group with you?

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Speaker 2: Well, with my group, it was only three girls and

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Speaker 2: then five boys, so it was very male dominated. So

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Speaker 2: it was very like walk walk, walk walk. I came

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Speaker 2: with boots that were very broken op Shop. I came

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Speaker 2: with shop boots. So when I was walking through the

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Speaker 2: Flinner's Rangers, the botombs of my souls started to disintegrate,

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Speaker 2: and I also started to get holes in the tops

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Speaker 2: and ductate them together. Oh my god, and it was

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Speaker 2: it was a journey. I got blisters all over my feet.

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Speaker 2: It was really really bad. You can say that.

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Speaker 1: So okay, first day. And did anyone have regrets at

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Speaker 1: this point?

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Speaker 3: Oh? Many.

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Speaker 2: Many of the girls tried to run away, really cried.

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Speaker 2: We have people called sitters that don't want to walk

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Speaker 2: at all.

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Speaker 1: They stopped.

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Speaker 2: They see it like I'm not walking anymore. But by

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Speaker 2: the end, everyone's walking, everyone's enjoying their time, start singing songs,

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Speaker 2: capt fire songs.

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Speaker 3: As you're walking.

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Speaker 1: That's that's by day eight.

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Speaker 3: Right by eight, you're pretty much well set to go.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So day one people sitting and I suppose I've

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Speaker 1: got no choice. It's either or you get left behind.

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Speaker 3: Exactly.

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Speaker 2: Well, you don't get left behind, but you have nowhere

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Speaker 2: else to go, like, you can't run anywhere. You're in

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Speaker 2: the middle of nowhere. So yeah, you can't run anywhere

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Speaker 2: like this new where to run.

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Speaker 1: So at some point I understand over the eight days,

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Speaker 1: you've had an epiphany. The light has gone on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So by I think it was day six seven

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Speaker 2: the day just a couple of days before you leave,

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Speaker 2: you do a mountain climb, which is either Mount Rose

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Speaker 2: or yap Lamora. Some people do Extension Hill, but that's

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Speaker 2: for advanced teams. And I was sitting on top of

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Speaker 2: yat Lamora. And when you go up there this weekend,

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Speaker 2: you'll probably see yat Lamora. They'll explain it to you.

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Speaker 2: But I was sitting on top of yat Lamora and

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Speaker 2: I was eating my musliba food up there, not the best,

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Speaker 2: but I'll take it now. Sitting there and I was

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Speaker 2: I'm thinking and thinking, and it started to rain. It

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Speaker 2: was like spitting and he's reading a story to us,

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Speaker 2: and I'm thinking I'm sitting there, I'm like, oh my God,

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Speaker 2: like my life to be so bad. I grew up

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Speaker 2: in a very bad household, moving town to town, school

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Speaker 2: to school, and I just thought like, this is the

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Speaker 2: moment I want to change my life. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to do something with my life. That's when I decided

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Speaker 2: I wanted to become a paramedic, and I decided to

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Speaker 2: do that. I need to get better grades from I

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Speaker 2: went from a DC student all the way to a

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Speaker 2: straight A student by just having epiphany and changing my mindset.

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Speaker 1: What so, what made you change your mindset? I'm in

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Speaker 1: the epiphany, I get that. But you're sitting in the

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Speaker 1: rain listening to someone read a story.

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Speaker 2: But you're just looking at the view, and you've just

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Speaker 2: experienced something that no one ever experiences. You've literally walked

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Speaker 2: one hundred kilometers over eight days. And I was just

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Speaker 2: sitting there and I was just like, if I can

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Speaker 2: do this, if I can walk one hundred kilometers through

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Speaker 2: literally a desert, I'm able to do anything I want.

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Speaker 3: With my life. This has literally changed my life for

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Speaker 3: the better.

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Speaker 1: Did others have the same experience, either in your group

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Speaker 1: or in the other groups as you will have.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, I've heard many, many stories of kids who

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Speaker 2: have gone through Operation Flinders and next thing, you know,

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Speaker 2: change their life completely.

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Speaker 1: Wow, And what have they done? What sort of like

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Speaker 1: what give us an example?

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Speaker 2: An example would be like, I know my friend Bella,

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Speaker 2: she said that on her walk she didn't really feel

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Speaker 2: very confident in herself, and then talking to her today,

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Speaker 2: she's been on the news, I believe, and she's also

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Speaker 2: does lots of speeches within off Flinders her confidence flight.

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Speaker 2: And I can say the same for me, like I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't be on the radio right now if it wasn't

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Speaker 2: Front Flinders and tell you that my confidence has peaked

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Speaker 2: since Flinders.

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Speaker 1: We're not on the radio, We're just in a werehouse chante, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I know, doing so okay, so paramedics. So now you're

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Speaker 1: an A grade student in year twelve, would you have

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Speaker 1: believed that if somebody said this to you back in

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Speaker 1: twenty one?

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Speaker 3: No, no way, like I truly believed I was.

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Speaker 2: I didn't even know where I was going to end

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Speaker 2: up at that point because, as I said previously, like

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Speaker 2: my life wasn't the best and my mom is only

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Speaker 2: a single mum providing for four girls, like it was

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Speaker 2: very very difficult for her. I couldn't go anywhere, I

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Speaker 2: could do anything. So I kind of just had to

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Speaker 2: live off the moment. And that's when Operation Flinders gave

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Speaker 2: me the opportunity to join the Next Step program. And

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Speaker 2: from there I've just explored the whole of essay, something

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Speaker 2: I never thought I would be able to do.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's pretty cool. So what are you doing now?

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Speaker 1: Next Step program? Tell us about that? What's that involved?

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Speaker 2: So through the Next Step Program, I have got my

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Speaker 2: first AID certificate. I've done a cert to in outdoor recreation.

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Speaker 2: I've also been to Papua New Guinea did the Kakoda track?

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Speaker 1: How was that?

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Speaker 3: Oh? It was? It was incredible.

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Speaker 2: It was amazing something I don't I don't even have

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Speaker 2: words for it, to be honest, I'm loss of words

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Speaker 2: that I still completed that. But again, this was all

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Speaker 2: through Operation Flinders and the opportunities that they provide something

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Speaker 2: I would never never be.

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Speaker 3: Able to do.

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Speaker 1: Did you have better boots?

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Speaker 3: Yes? So that's the thing.

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Speaker 2: So I'm also a peer group mentor yeh, which means

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Speaker 2: I take others out like other schools that come, and

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Speaker 2: I'm so you have your team leader, assistant team leader,

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Speaker 2: and then peer group mental okay. Peer group mentor is

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Speaker 2: supposed to be a bridge between adults and children, which

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Speaker 2: is what I was. And my boots again shot boots

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Speaker 2: I originally had often as boots, but then they broke

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Speaker 2: because obviously you're doing a lot of water, so they broke,

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Speaker 2: and I still went out and used them out on

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Speaker 2: the field again. My boots got destroyed at the bottoms,

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Speaker 2: the top was falling off sticky tape. And then as

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Speaker 2: I was walking back in and I was eating my

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Speaker 2: breakfast from after the exercise of the camp, a volunteer

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Speaker 2: comes up to me and says, Maddie, I've got a

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Speaker 2: surprise to you. I'm like, oh, well, what it's a surprise.

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Speaker 2: She goes come up to the warehouse with me. So

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Speaker 2: I go up to the warehouse where we store all

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Speaker 2: our stuff, and she pulls out this brand new pair

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Speaker 2: of boots and says, the CEO has brought you a

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Speaker 2: new pair of boots. And then the boots I'm literally

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Speaker 2: wearing right now with me.

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Speaker 1: They look great, they look comfy, they're amazing, They're ideal

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Speaker 1: for hiking, no doubt about it. Maddie's as the peer

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Speaker 1: group a person on your responsibility, Sierrah, what to help

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Speaker 1: the kids that might want to be the sitters, for instance,

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Speaker 1: to talk to them?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm also like the communit cater type situations, so

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Speaker 2: if they don't feel comfortable talking to it, they're able

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Speaker 2: to talk to me, and then I can relay that

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Speaker 2: to an adult. Also, having that feeling of another kid

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Speaker 2: who's been on exercise and knows what's going on helps

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Speaker 2: them to understand, well, I'm okay, I'm safe. Another kid's

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Speaker 2: done this. They're here to help me.

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Speaker 1: Do you talk to them about your light bulb moment?

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Speaker 3: Ah, Yes I do.

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Speaker 2: I do say like, by the end of this you'll

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Speaker 2: have this amazing light bulb moment and it'll just be

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Speaker 2: like something you've never experienced. And then I encourage them

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Speaker 2: to go on to do the next Step program because

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Speaker 2: it is incredibly something incredible operations in those offers.

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Speaker 1: What next? What do you plan to do with up

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Speaker 1: Flinders moving forward?

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Speaker 3: Wow?

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Speaker 2: That is a great question, because honestly, Operational Flinners is

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Speaker 2: always offering new opportunities like you wouldn't even expect it.

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Speaker 2: It just comes out the poo. To be honest, I

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Speaker 2: think I'm gonna keep doing more speeches and keep and

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Speaker 2: best shooting for Operation in Flinders, keep talking to people

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Speaker 2: and trying to get them to fundraise, because I can't

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Speaker 2: explain enough how strong this program is that supports young life,

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Speaker 2: my life. I can't keep going. It has changed so much,

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Speaker 2: like completely changed my life.

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Speaker 1: What do your sisters think of this?

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Speaker 2: My sister exactly. So originally my sister actually got given

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Speaker 2: the offer few Operation Flinders. She said, no, no, not me,

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Speaker 2: asks my sister. So then my sister was so devastated

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Speaker 2: when she thought, oh my god, Maddi's had all these

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Speaker 2: opportunities and that could have been me. But I was like, no,

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Speaker 2: I took that from you.

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Speaker 1: So she's missed out. Now, Yeah, I imagine. What about

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Speaker 1: your mum? What does she say about the change in you?

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Speaker 2: Oh Mom, she's she's in shock. She's incredibly incredibly proud

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Speaker 2: of me. The things I've achieved from Upflanders that leads

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Speaker 2: into my school, my out of life, at work. Everything

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Speaker 2: op Flanders provides me helps me to be a better

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Speaker 2: person than I am today.

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Speaker 1: So very rewarding. Obviously, you recommend it to any person.

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Speaker 2: Going in any person, if you get given the offer,

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Speaker 2: don't let it down. That's in any offer in life though.

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Speaker 2: If you get given a life an option, the door opens, opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Take it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, take the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Maddie. Great meeting you today. Thank you for the the

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Speaker 1: experience and talking us through that. That light bulb moment.

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Speaker 1: That's just that's that's actually really inspiring. So that's that's

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Speaker 1: really positive. Good on you for realizing that. I suppose

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Speaker 1: and you know, for many of us, we get older

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Speaker 1: and we may have missed that. You know, you just

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Speaker 1: go on on the first door that opens, whether it's

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Speaker 1: a job or select a UNI course or whatever, and

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Speaker 1: it you know, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

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Speaker 1: But if you've had the you know, the moment to

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Speaker 1: realize it, you know, it's just fantastic. So good on you. Yes,

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Speaker 1: you're up there this weekend.

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Speaker 2: No, I'm not up there this weekend, but you will

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Speaker 2: see many of my other friends and P group mentors

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Speaker 2: and they'll definitely talk you through it.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic. Good luck with the rest of you twelve.

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Speaker 3: Good luck with doing up there.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you very much, Thank you. I will

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Speaker 1: Maddie Phillips, who is a past participant of Operation Flinder's

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Speaker 1: on the eight day program and then join the Next

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Speaker 1: Step program as you heard, working with young people going

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Speaker 1: through it. She's completed barista training, so you could make

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Speaker 1: me a coffee now, yes, yes, at work fantastic and

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Speaker 1: being as you say the Kakoda track. Good on you, Maddie,

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Speaker 1: wonderful and very inspiring. Thank you for your time. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much, Maddie Phillips, my guest