~ Australia Day, 2019 Young Citizen of the Year (Bundaberg Region) ~

I am honoured to announce that I have won the 2019 Young Citizen of the Year for the Bundaberg Region! I was amazed when I found out I had been nominated and won this award as the news came out of the blue but what a wonderful surprise! I just want to thank the people who nominated me & the panel for selecting me. It’s been a hard couple of weeks keeping it a surprise from everyone but yesterday, receiving this incredible award, it was worth the wait. I can’t thank my Friends, Family, Bundaberg Riding for the Disabled & the community enough for all their wonderful support they have given me. I was worried I wasn’t going to top last year’s Awards & Amazing experiences but Achieving this in the first month... I am lost for words! 

After my name was announced and I walked across the front I looked over at my parents to see their faces, mum was crying and well I’ll never forget how proud my dad looked. In that moment I had to look away otherwise I would have started crying too. I shook hands with the Mayor and Chelsea Higgins and then made my way to make a speech which I had not prepared for. I said a few words and made my way back to my seat to watch the other recipients receive their awards. The birds were singing and the day was simply to beautiful and magical to forget! I am so Blessed & Honoured to receive this incredible award. I am definitely one Proud Australian!

~ Great things come in small packages ~

As I lay here on my bed watching my fish swim around in their tank, I can’t help but think how fish are so underrated as pets. I love fish, as a little kid I remember us having some pet goldfish but they were rather boring back then as a child. Last year I grew a real attachment to fish, I’m not sure why it started later on in my teens as I never really cared much for them years ago. My love for fish really became noticeable to the point one of my close friends took me fishing, we waited for hours until we finally caught a fish. I was jumping around and beaming with joy like a kid on Christmas morning as I watched my friend pull this big catfish in. When it came up out of the water we sprang into action, I took a hold of the fish and kissed his pretty little head while my friend took a picture before placing him back into the water and watch him swim away. Suddenly the hours of boredom spent waiting for this fish became totally worth every minute. On the very last day of 2018 I was finally prepared to get some much-wanted pet fish, we went to the pet shop and I absolutely fell in love with this small but chunky orange and white fish. I brought him and two of his little friends to accompany him in his new home. I do hope they like pink as I do because in their tank is pink rocks and a pretty pink fairy-tale castle. They spend their days swimming around, bumping into each other, looking for things to eat but my favourite is watching them swim around investigating everything like, “Ohh what’s in here, what does this do, what does this feel like, does this move!?”. Another precious thing to see is when I take the lid off to feed them as they know food is about to come. They swim faster around in circles then up to the top of the tank to nibble on my fingers and swim back to the bottom and around in circles again as if they’re doing a “happy dance”. I hear so many people say, “but it’s just a fish”. Yes, it is a fish but not “just a fish”, they have so much personality, such presents, so very inquisitive, very unique from each other and they really are quite intelligent. Fish really do make great pets and well they can keep you entertained for hours.