ASHLEY Harrison made up her mind as soon as she saw the list of guest speakers at the Forbes Under 30 Summit.
"I have to be there," she remembers thinking.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime knowledge gaining experience."
Ms Harrison, 19, successfully applied to attend the four day summit and will fly on Saturday via New York to Detroit, where she will get the chance to listen to speakers from leaders in business, technology, policy and entertainment that organisers promise will "teach, motivate and stir".
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These include Grand Slam winning tennis player Serena Williams, NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, Tinder founder Sean Rad, the head of Uber Elevate Eric Allison, Queer Eye television personality, actor and chef Antoni Porowski and musician Halsey.
The speakers are aligned to 20 "industry-specific content tracks".
Ms Harrison - who is studying for a double degree in law and business at the University of Newcastle and has received sponsorship from Newcastle Business School and UON Global - said she was most interested in the innovation track and law and policy track.
"I'm really looking forward to hearing from the founder of Squarespace, Anthony Casalena, of PayPal, Peter Thiel and of Reformation, Yael Aflalo," she said.
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"I'm also going to try to sneak into Antoni's speech - I'm interested to see how he's turned himself into a brand."
The summit also includes a pitch competition and a founder's forum.
"I'm so excited and I can't wait to get there and get learning," she said.
"Hearing the diversity of knowledge from industry leaders will be a massive advantage when studying business and seeking practical experience in the business world.
"I hope to share my key take-aways with other UON students when I get back."
Ms Harrison is no stranger to excelling on the world stage.
The Newcastle Herald spoke to Ms Harrison when she was in year 12 and preparing to compete in the prestigious Yale Model United Nations Conference in January.
She was appointed to the committee on narcotics and drugs and assigned the country of Guatemala.
Despite having no prior knowledge of the topic, she engaged in four days of debate and organisers named her an outstanding delegate.
Soon after starting at UON Ms Harrison joined global-facing leadership program iLEAD Plus, which was sending students to the University Scholars Leadership Symposium in Kuala Lumpur. The Global Youth Model United Nations (GYMUN) was being held in the same city around the same time.
Ms Harrison received support from UON for the GYMUN - where she represented Myanmar on the crisis committee - and from the Rotary Club of Newcastle Enterprise to attend the symposium.
She said it was important for aspiring leaders to take ego out of their work and focus on why they are doing it, rather than what they can get out of it.
"We can't all be Greta Thunberg, but if we're contributing and making a difference it should not actually matter," she said.
"It's not about one person, it's about our common goal."
