My week at YO Bendigo

When first walking into Yo Bendigo I was greeted with smiling faces, and a strong welcome into a workspace, where everyone was always up for a good chat. Leon, the Youth Lead at YO Bendigo, showed me around the building and introduced me to the Youth Mayor Lilly Correll. Leon also helped me to improve my resume, in addition to helping me to settle into the office and understand what YO Bendigo is about and some of the things I will be doing.

During my work experience week, I attended a fair few meetings. The first meeting was about a trainee session and how that is organized, and during the second meeting, we discussed a haunted house event and how we can make that possible. I also got to make some gift bags and help set up for a VET class that was coming in. I was a part of writing an article about camping for the Ambedo magazine Yo Bendigo produces and designed the imagery to go with it. Throughout my experience at YO Bendigo, I got to complete a lot of design work, with examples of this work including coming up with ideas for what to do for YO Bendigo's end-of-year party, creating labels for around the workspace, and designing a door sign so people can open the door easier. 

Further in the week of my work experience the Community Connections Officer – Youth, Teddy, spoke to me about their job at YO Bendigo and what projects they help with. I researched some well-being and mental health workshop providers to help people find ways to improve their mental health, and I also helped the team move things around in the workspace to find room for a new cupboard. 

On the Thursday Leon got me a visitor pass to tour Galkangu, the Government Hub in Bendigo. On Thursday, I also had the chance to talk to a psychologist in the building about my interest in psychology as a field of further study, and what it would look like if I wanted to become a psychologist.

Overall, my week at YO Bendigo was a great experience and I would certainly recommend others to go to YO Bendigo for their work experience. The workers here are lovely and always keep your best interest in mind. I never felt pressured to do anything instead I was supported in the task. The building also has a nice and calm aspect to it, that makes you always feel welcome. During my week I got to have various jobs, which meant I could have a feel of different things, and I never grew bored in what I was doing.