Sam Werleman, a young local employed by The Tourist Hotel, recently undertook a hands-on initiative through Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).

The experience was aimed at personal and professional development, as well as leadership skills, which came at the perfect time for Sam as she recently took on further responsibilities at work.

“About a month before RYLA, I started a new role at work in a managerial position,” Ms Werleman said.

“I used to be a chef with the hotel, but I’ve just stepped up as the new functions manager, which is an area where those people skills and leadership lessons from RYLA have really helped.”

According to Ms Werleman, she had a great time at the week-long workshop, despite not being completely sure what she was getting herself into.

“When I signed up, I found out very little information because RYLA is designed in such a way that the participants go into it with an open mind,” she said.

“And it was very eye-opening – I had no expectations about what RYLA was going to be about, which was great because we were all very pleased with everything we learnt from the experience.”

The RYLA mornings were filled with educational seminars dealing with goal setting and planning.

“Day to day, you don’t really think much about your personal, financial and work-related goals – you’re focusing on your daily tasks rather than the big picture,” Ms Werleman explained.

“But these seminars forced us to think about what we want to get out of life more broadly.

“We also explored our own skills, especially in terms of leadership, and how to further strengthen those.”

Each afternoon, the RYLA participants took on team-building exercises which included both educational and practical components.

“We were given tasks that weren’t possible to overcome individually, so we really had to tap into that collaborative mindset and work together,” Ms Werleman said.

“There were a lot of ideas bouncing off one another and operating as a team to reach the resolution.

“You learn to identify each individual person’s strengths, and how to bring that out in them for the good of the team, which has come in handy now that I’m back home.”

Ms Werleman has already noticed a difference in her performance at work, thanks to these kinds of activities.

“People who work closely with me, my boss and some of my other co-workers, have commented on my performance saying I appear more confident in the new role,” she said.

“Which is great because I was a little nervous moving into the managing position, whereas now my approach is a lot calmer, my communication skills are better and my work is more thorough.”

Outside of the valuable lessons she learnt, Ms Werleman said the best part of RYLA was the people she met along the way.

“You spend a week with them, so you build quite a special bond with these new friends,” she said.

“And what’s great is that these connections wouldn’t be possible outside of RYLA – they’re people you wouldn’t necessarily meet in your everyday life.

“Everyone is so open and friendly and we’ve shared this lovely experience together so, by the end of it, we became like a 50-person family.

“It’s a great support system and we got to take that away with us even after RYLA – I still keep in contact with them.”

Not only have these new friends improved social aspects of her life, but Ms Werleman said her personal goals and plans feel more secure thanks to the skills she learnt at RYLA.

“I’m able to visualise what I want to work on, so I’ve continued focusing on that and keeping notes on my plans for the future,” she said.

“Working on myself has become part of my everyday life now.”

Ms Werleman recounted her experience to members of the Narrabri Rotary Club earlier this month, where she called RYLA “the best thing I’ve done in my life so far”.

Read more stories like this:

To order photos from this page click here