I remember running out of the tunnel as the enormous Queen's Birthday crowd exploded into view. Treading on the grass of the MCG and feeling the buzz from the crowd was an unimaginable feeling. Having a kick on the G was a childhood dream come to life. This was one of the many opportunities I had been offered throughout the Whitten Project.

During the project I have made good friends and for that I am grateful. I've also made connections who I will be able to contact and discuss future aspirations with down the track. As a group we have all gotten along and worked well together which made the experience even more rewarding.

The Project granted me the opportunity to obtain both an AusKick coaching qualification and a Community Coach - Active After School certificate. We were all very fortunate to be able to get these and will all find good use for them in the future.

We have listened to many speakers including athletes and other successful figures who have all imparted strong morals and taught valuable lessons. Bianca Chatfield taught us the importance of personal branding and also told us about the ups and downs in her professional sporting career which I think everybody was inspired by. Kylie Watson-Wheeler shared her experience of an incredible career pathway and taught us that hard work will always be rewarded, but one of my most memorable sessions was with Jason McCartney. He told his story of battling the odds and his immense resilience. I was actually moved by his story and it is something I often think about when I face my own problems. That day I learned that success, big or small, can be achieved from any level of adversity.

Participation in the project has helped me be able to take initiative in the classroom and in the public. I now feel confident when needing to voice an opinion and that has proved useful during school. The skills I've learnt have also helped me with my sport. Being able to communicate more effectively with my team mates has made my team a better and more efficient group. Many of the skills and leadership qualities I've acquired will be transferable to my future career. I know how to lead a group successfully and this will come in use in a team environment which could be in an office or on a field.

If there was one message I could take from the program, that I could share with as many people as possible, it would be this: You don't need a title to be a leader. I've learnt that leadership can be much smaller than running a country or captaining a team, but just as effective. Just because you don't have a badge or a position doesn't mean you can't have, and use, leadership qualities. Being a leader can be as simple as listening to others or motivating someone to do better.

I'd recommend the project to anyone, I believe that it can inspire and draw leadership qualities out of anybody.

I'd like to thank the Melton, Brimbank, Mooney Valley, Maribyrnong and Hobson's Bay councils for supporting the program, it's a great opportunity for people our age and is something I'll look back positively to for the rest of my life.

On a final note, on behalf of the young leaders of this year's project, I'd like to thank both Mark De Campo and Nathan Bibby for organising and managing the program. We're appreciative of the work you had put in behind the scenes and wish you luck with next years project.