Check out our nominees

Here's a look at some more Red Carpet Youth Award finalists.

Read below about what these young people are up to and why they were selected.

Endurance and Resilience Award:

Lani Hood, 16

Lani is proud to be a young Aboriginal person and identifies with the Gunai Kurnai people.

Although Lani has come up against many adversities in her short life, particularly relating to disengagement, bullying and racism, it has not stopped her from striving to achieve.

Until recently, Lani was beginning to disengage at school and her attendance rate was an issue.

However, after starting at Wodonga Senior Secondary College at the start of this year, she has only had approved absences.

Lani’s mother, Kerrie, attributes this to a supportive and culturally safe learning environment.

She has also established an ongoing involvement with the Wodonga Koorie Youth Network and the Korin Gamadji Institute.

Lani is passionate about providing opportunities to other young Aboriginal people and is a role model to others within the Wodonga Koorie Youth Network.

Most recently, Lani was involved as a primary contributor to launch the network’s five-year community action plan.

During the 2019 April school holidays, Lani attended the Korin Gamadji Institute leadership camp, which is targeted to young Aboriginal people.

Lani has gained confidence and leadership skills as a result of many challenges, using support and hard work to turn the battles into triumphs.

She has learnt from previous experiences and now speaks up, advocates and supports people who are going through similar adversities.

Mica Baker, 17

Mica has endured many hardships in her lifetime due to a challenging and unsettling upbringing.

Her schooling was interrupted and she struggled socially.

Mica has found it challenging when learning simple English and mathematic concepts.

Although these challenges affected her greatly, Mica has carried on in her education and works hard at her casual job at KFC.

She is now proudly completing year 12 at Wodonga Senior Secondary College and aims to study a Bachelor of Psychological Science at university next year.

Mica has ongoing issues she is dealing with, and while this is a daily obstacle, she does not let it interfere with her life.

Haydan Olney, 16

Haydan, who is a twin and the eldest of four siblings, is lucky to be here after he was born with half a heart.

At just five days old, he endured his first open-heart surgery that was a gruelling 13 hours long.

It was the first of what would be many more open-heart surgeries for the Wodonga Senior Secondary College student.

There is no cure to fix his heart defect, attending the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne for tests and evaluations every few months and blood work is completed every few weeks... all to keep him going.

Once in a while he visits the wards of families with babies/toddlers experiencing the same heart defect to give hope and inspiration.

His heart condition means very low oxygen levels making it harder to breathe, participate in sport, attend school and be active.

Doctors told Haydan he would never play sport except golf or table tennis.

He has proved them wrong, playing soccer for five years, baseball for three years, also tennis and rugby league for a few years.

Haydan also represented his school in both state baseball and rugby league, winning the grand final.

He loves to snow ski, abseil, kayak, and go bushwalking, camping and swimming.

Haydan even goes to the gym several times a week.

Casey Seymour, 20

An unexpected health condition saw Casey Seymour placed in a coma for several weeks with doctors diagnosing an ongoing medical condition.

Casey completed year 12 in 2016 and started an engine rebuilding apprenticeship with Motoreco in Wodonga in 2017.

He enjoyed walking to work, had a great boss and liked living at home with his family.

However, in May 2017, an unexpected health condition and a trip in the ambulance escalated into being airlifted to Melbourne where he was placed in a coma.

Casey had to forgo his apprenticeship with Charles LeMesurier, as lots of specialist appointments, medication changes and medical complications made holding a mainstream job impossible.

In spite of this, Casey enjoys using his time to lead year 7 and 8 boys in our area at weekly youth group meetings.

He also helps pack food share parcels for local families, and does odd jobs around the home.

Casey attends youth meetings and has awesome mates who drive him around.

His goal is to one day finish building his old Dodge ute.

Casey enjoys helping youth in the Wodonga community achieve their own aspirations and looks forward to his personal health improving so he can work full-time and study.

Commitment to Continuous Learning and Development Award:

Katana Tolman, 16

Katana enjoys being a member of a large family that includes five younger siblings ranging from eight years old to one year old.

She likes teaching her younger siblings, laughing with them, and even the occasional argument.

The year 11 Wodonga Senior Secondary College student has two jobs.

She works at McDonalds after school and on weekends, as well as one day a week at ANZ as part of a school-based apprenticeship.

Katana says both positions provide new challenges and opportunities to learn both academic and real world skills.

Another way she enjoys learning is from attending extra-curricular camps.

Katana recently completed the James Cook University and Monash University winter school camps.

She believes the opportunities boost her leadership and learning skills, as well as help to plan her career path after graduation.

Zara Smith, 14

Zara is a dedicated and hard-working student who is motivated to improve herself in all areas.

Last year, she participated In Victory Lutheran College’s production, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

The production gave her the opportunity to perform on stage in the ensemble, as well as work with her peers.

She values teamwork and believes it’s a crucial part in any matter.

This year, she joined Victory Lutheran College’s Orchestra Ensemble, strengthening her skills with the viola and competing at the Wodonga Eisteddfod.

Last year, she participated in the ICAS Mathematics, Spelling and Writing competition where she earnt a merit in mathematics, a credit in spelling and a high distinction in writing.

Zara received three subject excellence awards at the end of last year (English, visual arts and languages), in addition to this, also receiving an academic award and citizenship award.

The citizenship award focused on her work ethic and ability to overcome difficult situations with a positive manner.

With her experience as a school house captain in 2017, Zara demonstrates her eagerness to lead and learn.

Zara believes one of her greatest passions is using her skills to benefit others around her, as well as achieving a certain goal on time.

Zach Owen, 16

Zach always demonstrates a commitment to learning, even when he’s not a fan of the subject.

The year 11 Victory Lutheran College student enjoys studying physics and mathematics.

While he does not enjoy English class, Zach has gone from struggling to now passing all of his set work without fear of failing.

He believes his commitment to improving his learning in all areas at school will serve him well in the future.

Away from school, he enjoys cycling and can spend upwards of ten hours a week sitting on a saddle most weeks.

It’s a place for him to clear his mind and escape for a bit, as well as always seeing an improvement.

He would like the opportunity to ride professionally one day.

Zach attends the local church, New Life Chapel where he serves on the sound production and photography team.

He also volunteers with the church’s youth program.

Molly Corr, 17

Great role models and playing sport have been motivating factors in Molly’s education.

The year 11 Catholic College Wodonga student has a passion for education, especially in science.

Her love of learning has been influenced by education figures in her life, including her Nanna, a retired and reputable mathematics teacher at Xavier High School and her science teachers for sharing their infectious love of the respective subjects.

Molly's mother is a health care worker and influenced her passion from a young age in health science.

Sport has also played a large role in her education.

As a gymnast for almost ten years, and now a soccer player, it has instilled determination, time management, resilience and many other skills that reflect her work ethic.

Molly is an ambitious person whose open mind has led to some incredible experiences.

Last year she participated in her school’s French immersion, which was a trip of a lifetime, improving her language along with cultural awareness and personal development.

Molly is a member of the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program with the University of Melbourne, which is an academic enrichment program designed to support high achieving year 11 and 12 students in Victoria and surrounds.

The experience enabled Molly to meet like-minded people and gave her a kick-start to university life, access to exclusive academic opportunities and a guaranteed undergraduate position.