Penola teen spreads self love message

YOUNG GUN: Penola and Coonawarra community member Ebonie Moulton has been announced as the 2021 Penola Australia Day Young Citzen of the Year. Picture: MOLLY TAYLOR

By Molly Taylor

A STRONG-WILLED Penola youth who used her personal challenges to become a role model for her peers has been named the township’s 2021 Wattle Range Council young citizen of the year.

Ebonie Moulton, 18, will receive the Australia Day honour for her dedication to community programs, which support the district’s young people.

Graduating from Penola High School last year, the charismatic and down-to-earth student was the site’s Year 12 Dux and acted as the student representative committee president, having been involved in school leadership since Year 8, as well as serving as sports captain.

Ms Moulton’s story came to light through a podcast on Best Version Of You – hosted by Imogene Ryan and Reanna Wetherall – agreeing to the interview in an effort to help others understand they were not alone with their individual challenges.

Ms Moulton said she was nervous about the podcast but knew if she opened up, she may provide an insight for others facing life obstacles.

The teenager completely leapt out of her comfort zone, speaking about body image, battles with eating disorders and also her broader life.

“I am very passionate about self love and the way that I gain self love myself is through sharing my own battles and helping other people. I just took a chance and did it and it’s probably one of the most rewarding things I have done,” she said.

“Lots of people don’t know I went through what I did and it is such a rewarding feeling knowing I helped people through similar circumstances I went through.

“It honestly helped me too, but I just wanted to spread awareness that there are many people are out there who are in the same boat and it’s not scary to speak up and get help.”

Achieving a perfect score in art during Year 12 and having her artwork Salvation displayed during the South Australian Certificate of Education Art Show, Ms Moulton said she had always had a passion for all things creative.

The young budding artist’s style is mostly contemporary with a speciality in realistic portraits, but she has recently leaned towards abstract techniques.

Ms Moulton said she shared her work online and it had began to gain attraction, believing it had helped others.

“As I have grown older, rather than just drawing, I have started to draw how I’m feeling and what others may be feeling so they can resonate with it,” she said.

“My mum was very artsy and I have an artistic family in terms of music and everything, so that might be where I picked it up.

“It was always just a side hobby, but I went through a bit of a dark phase in Year 9 and 10 and it was a way of dealing with things and helped expressed how I felt.”

Ms Moulton said she was shocked to have been awarded the title and thought she may have been nominated for her empathy and effort to help improve people’s own opinions of themselves.

“In Year 8, I did a speech on standards of women and another in Year 10 about expectations we go through as high school students and needing to know what you want to do as soon as you leave school,” she said.

“I started doing public speaking which I have never done before and I realised it was something I really enjoyed doing. A lot of the topics I could express how I felt.”

Ms Moulton was also involved in various school projects and began to develop a school zen room, which will be taken over by the next SRC president.

Having a gap year, Ms Moulton plans to move to Queensland in June and will continue working before heading to university.