LOCAL Year 12 student Catherine Richardson, from The Hamilton and Alexandra College, had the summer holiday of her dreams when she travelled to Melbourne to participate in the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF).

Along with 450 other Year 12 students from across the country, Catherine participated in the two-week program saying it was one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences of her life thus far.

The forum saw students visit science related places in Melbourne such as the Defence Science Technology Group (The Australian Defence Force’s research department) and the Commonwealth Serums Lab - which manufactures most of Australia’s flu vaccines and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

With a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Catherine said she had the time of her life being involved in the program and getting to know other likeminded students.

“The highlight of the program was the people I met and the friends I made along the way,” she said.

“While the NYSF introduces you to science careers, majority of which you never knew existed, one of their main goals is to help connect STEM minded students from around the country.

“In conjunction with the onsite visits, we also had a week of online events, which included hearing from people working on the Parkes radio telescope and a live cross to the CERN experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

“The tours, activities, leaders, and mentors were incredible.”

Catherine encouraged all Year 11 students interested in STEM to apply to the NYSF.

“I guarantee it will offer you opportunities that you didn’t know about, while also giving you the opportunity to make lifelong friendships,” she said. 

Catherine is The Hamilton and Alexandra College’s vice school captain and is also involved in the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program through The University of Melbourne.