Former Bundaberg State High School student Nicole Seesink was selected as one of 26 young leaders from across Australia to attend the recent Australian Olympic Change-Maker Summit.
Now in its fifth year, the Australian Olympic Change-Maker Program sees students from year 10 to 12 who created positive change in their communities through sport chosen by a panel of Olympians to represent their schools and communities at the national summit in Canberra.
Nicole joined the rest of the selected students to connect and collaborate with fellow change-makers and Olympians, engaging them to play a critical role in the future of the Olympic movement in Australia.
Nicole said she was ecstatic when she found out she had been selected to attend the summit.
“My teacher called me and slowly led into it and I was a bit confused to begin with [about] what he was talking about,” Nicole said.
“And then, he suddenly said ‘Nikki, you got selected! You’re going to Canberra! I am so proud of you, you did it kiddo!’
“It was such a surreal moment because no one from my region has done something like this.”
A talented gymnast, Nicole was selected as school captain at Bundaberg State High School where she recently graduated.
Earlier in the year she was an ambassador for the push up challenge where she encouraged students to get involved and raise awareness around mental health, using sport as a vehicle to create change.
She also organised a donation day to collect clothing for the less fortunate and reinforce positive social impact.
Nicole said what she had most looked forward to about the summit was visiting Parliament House.
“I [was] so excited to go to Parliament, because that’s where I want to end up in the future,” she said.
“So the more I can be around it, the more it can inspire me.”
Olympic gold medallist and host of the Olympic Change-Maker National Summit, Brooke Hanson OAM OLY, said she was blown away by the standard of applicants this year.
“The submissions this year are the best we have ever seen, and it was a very difficult task for the Olympian panel to select who would be coming to the National Summit,” Brooke said.
“A huge congratulations to those who have been selected, your hard work and commitment to creating lasting change within your school and local community has been felt by all at the Australian Olympic Committee and by the Olympians involved in the program.”
