Girl Guide leads by example
TOOWOOMBA’S Young Citizen of the Year Katie Rae has received the highest honour in Girl Guides.
She was honoured with the Queen’s Guide Award for Girl Guides at Government House in Brisbane last night.
It took the 19-year-old, who is in her final year of nursing studies at the University of Southern Queensland and completing practical studies in Roma, three years to complete the award.
The Queen’s Guide Award has two parts - the Gold Endeavour and an interest and focus.
Her interest was clay target shooting and although Miss Rae only needed to complete one focus, she did four.
Those focuses included attending the National Youth Science Forum in Perth, volunteering at the Toowoomba Hospice and organising a canoeing camp for younger girls in the Darling Downs region.
“It’s quite a relief (to be finished). I’ve done it all in my own time,” she said.
Miss Rae, who has been a Girl Guide since she was five, said she was thankful for the “awesome” opportunities she had been given, which allowed her to step out of her comfort zone.
She said she focused on topics like science and technology and leadership to get experience and develop skills like public speaking to set her up for the future.
Those skills helped with her role as a Darling Downs youth leadership consultant.
“I like working with younger girls and I think knowing that you can make a positive impact on other people’s lives is great,” she said.
She said she loved to “lead by example”.
“Knowing that someone is looking up to me is humbling,” she said.
Find out more about how you can get involved in Girl Guides and more about the Queen’s Guide Award at www.girlguides.org.au.