Most 16 year olds find work experience usually means working at the local office or store, but for one lucky teenager, work experience means a whole lot more.
For Michael Booker, 16, from the small NSW town of Temora, some 80 kms east of Wagga, work experience meant travelling hundreds of kilometres to Sydney, and then to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisations (ANSTO) research establishment at Lucas Heights to get some real life work experience.
Michael, who is currently finishing Year 10 at St. Anne's Catholic School in Temora, says that the Lucas Heights facility is " a really interesting place to work, especially the nuclear science part"
He goes on to say that he feels right at home in the Shire. "It's almost like a country town, really" he says about the Sutherland area. Michael, who is interested in working in Science is currently doing his work experience in the Physics Division at ANSTO and says "Its very interesting,and I enjoy it"
Asked as to whether he would like to come back and work at ANSTO, Michael says that " either here or overseas." Going further, he says that " Its really the only place in Australia to work if you have an interest in nuclear science
Michael is currently billeted with the Simons family of Heathcote and hopes next year to be attending St. Josephs College in Sydney. Les Simons, who has three sons and a daughter himself, says Michael has become just one of the boys." Asked whether he would like to one day maybe work in the Physics Division full-time, Michael says he would "happily do so if there was a position for him here."