Ross Caldwell
Name: Ross Caldwell
State/Territory: ACT
Occupation: Student
Star sign: Sagittarius
Shoe size: 10
Favourite hobby: Photography
Why did you get involved with NYW and why is it important to you?
I got involved with NYW because I felt like I could do more in my community and NYW seemed like a great way to help not just my own community, but also a national event. NYW is important to me because it is all about celebrating youth, presenting a positive message and having fun while doing that!
Why should young people get involved in NYW and how can they get involved?
Young people should get involved because NYW needs as many young people as possible to make sure that the week is actually about youth around Australia. If people want to get involved they can go to www.youthweek.com or become a fan of our official facebook page.
What are you most looking forward to for NYW 2012?
I’m most looking forward to actually going to events! After all this planning and behind-the-scenes running around, it’ll be really awesome to actually get to go to events and have fun!
What is it like to be a Young Member?
It’s kinda daunting, but it’s really rewarding to have such a big say in how NYW runs and even if it’s hard work, it’s all worth it at the end of the day.
Which NYW event did you enjoy last year?
I really loved going to the Youth InterACT conference here in Canberra. Spending a day running a workshop about live music, entertainment and all that stuff was really interesting and getting to mess around a bit while doing it was also pretty cool.
If you could, which NTC competition would you enter and why?
Definitely SnapIT, I’m an avid photographer and any excuse I have to take photos I’ll gladly take it.
Who or what have you been inspired by recently?
Actually, finishing school has been pretty inspiring and motivating for me. Looking ahead I can see how it’s important to get things done and I’m doing my best to keep my motivation at 100% until I’ve graduated.
How do you imagine, create and inspire?
I’m really driven by external inspiration as well as personal creativity. For example, for one of my photography projects I took a song lyric, grabbed some of the themes out of that and ended up building up an entire concept and project out of that. All it takes is that little bit of inspiration to get things kick started.
If you could travel back in time and meet yourself as a 12 year old, what advice would you give yourself?
Create Facebook ASAP.
How can the Youth of today be (more) active in their communities?
National Youth Week is a great way to get involved, but there are always local charities, schools and groups which are looking for volunteers. The main thing to do is to actually get out and do something! I find that the first step is often the hardest step when starting something new.