A student at Lake Lenore School is back from a trip to the west coast.

Shelby Voz was selected to attend a National Youth Forum after writing an essay. The question asked what the greatest opportunity or challenge facing Canada was for her generation.

"I did mine on mental health in Canada, but I was unable to go to the mental health forum," she noted. "They asked if I would be willing to go and learn more about the environment, which I said yes."

"I got to go to Vancouver and learn more about the environment and the future of cities in Canada and the plans that certain cities have for their future and how to sustain the environment from within."

Voz says that it turned out to be a rewarding experience to visit, adding that the scenery also helped.

"Vancouver is a beautiful city and there are so many geographic factors there - mountains, lakes, rivers, they have it all."

Throughout the week, there was many speakers and activities that Voz and the attendees were able to take in.

She highlighted one topic that came up multiple times.

"There was one thing about the wind and renewable energy that they talked about," said Voz. "It's an easy way to take renewable energy. By putting up wind farms and using our water sources that we have plenty of, to produce water energy."

She added that the forum was hosted at Science World, where they heard from David Suzuki, who spoke on sustainability. They also visited several museums.

Voz says that she would recommend the experience to any student because she was able to take in and do so much while on the trip.

"Everybody was really curious because they thought I won this trip to Vancouver to do nothing for a week," she explained. "While we were down there, we got to learn so much. More than I have ever learned in a classroom and we got to clean shorelines and remove invasive species."

Voz is currently in Grade 11.

You can hear more from Voz below.