Alyssa Walker, The Buloke Times

Last Thursday night (February 23), the 2023 Lions’ Youth of the Year saw a single, brave young Year 12 student facing one of the greatest fears known to humankind: public speaking.

Just hearing (or reading) the words is enough to throw anyone into disarray, as it looms like a death sentence over their futures.

Though it can be enjoyable, it is enjoyable much in the way that skydiving is fun – despite liking it, you still can’t help the nerves that jitter before you jump.

Erika Bickett was certainly nervous as she entered the Donald Angling Club, prepared speech in hand and the now-familiar faces of judges Michael, Stacy and Quill laid out before her. She’d already been grilled by them earlier in the day, having to expertly weave her opinions and thoughts into cohesion regarding multiple different topics. She also had to expand upon answers she had already given within her extremely detailed nomination form.

At least she was allowed to dine before presenting her prepared five-minute speech, and actually enjoy the beautiful array of salads and cold-cut meats.

The world always seems fuzzy and out-of-balance before you take the jump you’ve been so nervous about, and then it sharpens into crystal clear focus as you either fall or fly. Erika may have been nervous, but when she stepped up to the podium, she absolutely soared.

Call for Change

She started with a call for change, stepping up to challenge the ATAR system currently in place within all Australian schools. This “magic number” between 0 and 99.95 is supposed to indicate the academic performance of a Year 12 student in relation to all their peers.

This “magic number” is the defining factor in deciding the future of all students sitting exams. This “magic number,” Erika argued, needs to change.

“This one future-deciding number is attained after five gruelling weeks of exams – exams that are based on class selections aiming for a chosen career,” Erika explained, but her explanation doesn’t end there. “This chosen career is one you had to start planning for in around Year 9, when most students are 14 years old. Who actually knew what they wanted to do for the rest of their life when they were 14?”

Stress

This is a stress that starts young, and only builds as time goes on and the dreaded exam days draw near. Of the more than 49,500 students who participated in exams last year, Erika presented statistics for over 75% of them admitting to fear-based stress surrounding their future.

“In a country with a strained mental health system as it is, surely anything that is able to cut back on these stress levels is a good thing?” Erika said, before skilfully presenting some ATAR alternatives that are already beginning to gain popularity.

Not only is VCAL an exam-free option for students, Erika explained, but “universities themselves have also already begun bypassing the ATAR system by making early and non-ATAR offers available to students”.

Erika’s call for change resonated throughout the hall – moving even the microphone, which decided it needed some time to think and gave up halfway through the speech. Erika didn’t let that stop her, though. She channelled her inner hockey player voice and challenged those who might still want to stand by the ATAR system.

Sure, people might believe the ATAR system simplifies university entry process and sets a clear goal for eligibility, Erika said, but it also only judges eligibility based on a single part of a whole person. The ATAR doesn’t look at or take into account anyone’s interests, community involvement, volunteer work, etc. What little you can see about the person behind the score, which is based on their choice of classes, Erika explained, is not always accurate anyway. Half the time – especially in regional areas – people are forced to take classes they might not have even liked, simply because there were no other choices.

Erika ended her prepared speech by declaring that, whilst she agrees that “standards should still be required to pass university courses, there should be no magic number that hangs over anyone’s head from the age of 14 and prevents anyone from learning”.

Finishing her speech at practically 5 minutes on the dot, Erika was thrilled. The speeches are not allowed to go for any more than 5 minutes – and Erika had been reaching 6 and above in her practices. She had very little time to celebrate this though, as the next stage of the judging called for some quick thinking and improvised answers.

First question

The first question asked for Erika’s opinion on two changes that she would like to see within the Donald community, and Erika’s sentiments here were popular ones. First, she called for more non-sport related extracurricular options for the youths, citing that it also makes it incredibly communally ostracising if there is no space for you to “fit in”. In that regard, she offered a youth drop-in centre as one solution, acting as a hub for anything ranging from video games to reading to simply chatting, as a way for kids to socialise without hovering parents but still in a safe space.

Her second change asked for inclusivity in already-existing events. Perhaps the reason some people feel that sport is so ostracising is because it is inaccessible to them – Erika proposed approaching such events with a different outlook, and in doing so, broaden them to create diverse and equal opportunities to all those interested.

Second question

The judges’ second improv-style question was perhaps a more controversial one, but Erika presented her answer with the same impressive skill she had shown throughout the whole night. When asked whether or not the date for Australia Day should be changed, Erika explained that Australia Day should be a day that “brings Australia together as a whole, not divides us” and that it should be seen as a day that can be celebrated together, not one that separates us. If Australia Day is seen as “Invasion Day” by the Aborigines where so many lost their lives, she said, is it any wonder they want the date to change?

Before Erika could hear any of the judges’ final thoughts and feedback, there was, of course, dessert to be had. The plethora of pavlovas, mousse, fruit salad and ice cream were all perfectly suited to the soothing of a throat that had done a lot of talking.

Luckily for Erika, she wasn’t kept in suspense for too long. After a well-deserved round of “thank yous” to all the judges, the Lions Club members, the caterer (Lions Lady Jenny Shilton), and Erika for participating, Erika’s wait was over.

Impressive

Based on her performance for the whole night, it isn’t hard to understand why Michael said “impressive is a word that comes to mind very easily” when he thinks of her. He went on to applaud her responses, citing a wisdom and integrity far beyond her age, and commended the way she was able to understand both sides of an argument whilst staying true to her own points of view.

With this extremely high and well-deserved praise, even if she wasn’t the only candidate, it is easy to see how Erika would have become the 2023 Lions’ Youth of the Year.

She expertly faced one of humankind’s greatest fears – and faced it alone – and she absolutely soared in all her speeches, not letting any of the night’s mishaps bring her down. With an attitude as sunny, kind, and wise as hers, it’s going to be exciting to see just how far she will fly.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 28 February 2023.