“He had them in the palm of his hand,” said Inverell Tourism manager Peter Caddy.

The event was sponsored by Inverell Shire Council and delivered to students from Inverell, Warialda, Bundarra and Ashford.

The young speaker said despite the success he enjoys today, he had an average life and felt unable to live up to the high expectations his family and teachers had for his school performance. 

He believes by turning the negative pressure into positive inspiration, he forged is own road.

AJ shared his life story, his own journey to self-understanding and determination to use his strengths and interest to pave a way to success. 

He said he asked the room who knew what they wanted to do in life, to raise a hand. 

Those who didn’t, he asked to do the same.

“A lot of them knew, a lot of them didn’t, so I guess the message is, you can do whatever you want. It’s really up to you and if you want to be great, go for it.

“If you don’t want to be as great, but you still want to do something small, that’s fine, but do something,” he said.

AJ felt the biggest obstacle in the way of achievement for youth today was mindset.

“I think there’s too much negativity in society today, and I think that sometimes, a cool young person will listen to that negativity and take it on board, because they don’t see any other options,” he said.

“For me personally, I took all that negativity on board, and I turned it into something positive, and that could be rare. But why does it have to be rare? Why can’t that be the norm?”

Inverell High School careers advisor Pete Dal Santo thought the program was valuable.

“It gives them an opportunity to think differently, you know, someone from the Northern Territory, living in Melbourne, just an opportunity for them to see that young people can do well, and have a go, if they want to,” he said.

“We’re always keen for people to meet and do different things; know that the world’s out there.”