23-year old Chelsea Paspalau is the first student from the University of Natural Resources and Environment (UNRE) to be selected to be a part of the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) Archer Leaders cohort for 2024, a milestone achievement for herself and the institution she represents. Over the years, the majority of students selected for the leadership program, come either from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and the PNG University of Technology (PNG UoT). Young Chelsea, who is a final year Bachelor of Aqua Culture major student, had come across the program on LinkedIn and had just applied for the sake of applying, never imagined that she would get accepted. “It’s been exciting and I’m just blessed and grateful to be here and to be one of the selected awardees of the program.” “When I got here and everyone started introducing, I had realized that I was the only student from UNRE so I was embarrassed and I didn’t think that I would make it past the interview stage,” she said. She added that being the first from UNRE, upon her return to the school, she will be encouraging other students as well to apply for the program. “I hope that I can be an inspiration to other students. If you’re someone who is applying for scholarships and have gotten no feedback, keep applying because you never know when there will be an open door for you.” The Chief Operating Officer, Mike Nelson stated that he was very proud of the leaders of the 2024 cohort as there were a lot of potential candidates and congratulated them for standing out. He mentioned that he was excited about the first archer leader coming from the UNRE and said that they have always pushed for a diversity of candidates from universities and colleges around the country and therefore, encourages other students across the nation to also apply for the KTF Archer Leadership Program. Meanwhile, the 2024 KTF Archer Leadership cohort consists of a total of 12 students – six from UPNG, five from PNG UoT and one from UNRE.