EIGHTEEN-year-old Callum Baillie was so inspired by the past year he just had to write about it.
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Callum's short story about a gap year working in the local factory was announced as one of 29 winning entries in ABC Radio's annual Heywire competition on Thursday, which encourages regional youth to 'tell it like it is'.
Open to people aged 16 to 22 living in regional or rural Australia, Heywire seeks short stories in text, pictures, film or audio about life outside the major cities.
This year's winners tell stories of drought, relationships, racism, culture, life on the land and mental illness, to name a few.
Callum finished year 12 in 2007 and was one of the many local students who decided to take a year off before heading to university.
He spent the first six months of this year working at Electrolux.
“This year was a really good year for me, I had to put it into words,” he said.
“It was a complete slap in the face. You really are spoonfed at school, so hitting the workforce was my first taste of the real world.”
Callum will head to the University of NSW next year to study a double degree in music and psychology, and looks forward to living the life of a uni student.
“I'm going to be better for it,” he said.
“I learned a lot this year and it was great to have a job but factory work is not fun and it's not what I want to do.
“Now I see the value in getting the skills to do what I enjoy.”
Callum recently recorded a shorter version of his story for broadcast on ABC Radio, with the entire story to be posted on the website www.abc.net.au/heywire.
He will also join fellow Heywire winners at the Heywire Youth Issues Forum at Canberra in February where they will network with members of parliament, government and community leaders to address some of the issues raised by Heywire stories.
