"You know all the people in your own rural town, but anywhere further out you don't really know who they are," she said.

"You're isolated from everyone else in a way.

"Between the times of mum and dad milking, it's hard to go our and be with your friends and stay for say a whole day because your parents have to come and pick you up before they start milking so you're there to help out.

"It's hard to meet with your friends when they can just easily go walk down the street and meet up with others, whereas you have to organise a time, date, transport and so on."

Emily was one of many students to take part in the Corangamite Shire Youth Council's three-day program 'We Know Your Name But Not Your Story' this week.

The project, funded by VicHealth, was created to help young people feel a greater sense of belonging.

Students from schools across the region gathered at the Theatre Royal in Camperdown to share their stories.

"Even people from your own school, you may see them around and know who they are a little bit, but these things bring everyone together and you can really find out more depth about that person," she said.

"I struggled with a bit of bullying from primary school leading to high school. I felt displaced and not with very many people.

"I felt I was different from everyone else - a bad different - and was pretty negative on myself until I finally found my feet and found my true friends.

"I feel so much more positive, I think I can face anything that really comes at me now."

She said it was moving to hear stories from other kids her age who had been through something similar.

Year 9 Mercy Regional College student Adam is one of those kids.

He lives on the outskirts of Cobden and also struggled with bullying growing up.

"From Grade 2 to early Year 6 I was bullied horribly, I had really bad self-image and felt I wasn't good enough," he said.

"But I moved schools, and those new friends I made helped me become 10 times more resilient and more comfortable with who I am.

"One thing it teaches you is how to handle it when other people are getting bullied. I've helped quite a few of my friends who have been bullied because I've been through it myself."

He said growing up in a regional town can be tough.

"You do start to get very disconnected from the people that you're not in the direct town with," Adam said.

"That's why I think this is a really good program, because everyone's getting involved and you're making new friends - even people you've never met before you're getting connected to.

"That's why the name of the program is so good, you may have a connection to a lot of people even at you're own school but it doesn't go much deeper than knowing what they do on the weekend."

He said the experience helped him realise he is not alone.

"You learn that everyone has their own story, you're not the only one who might have gone through struggles and hardships in life," he said.

"Everyone in that room has gone through something that they keep behind closed doors to a lot of people, and it helps people bring it out when everyone's in an environment where they're comfortable to share.

"It's a very supportive environment, you can tell your story and you don't feel like you're going to be judged by anyone."

The stories will be filmed and edited to go on social media and the Corangamite Youth Showcase in November.

Youth Mayor Archi Perriss said the project was a huge success.

"Just because you might not have years of experience behind you, doesn't mean you don't have something really valuable to say," he said.

"The aim is to show that everyone has an important story to tell and encourage people to talk to each other and make new friends across all ages.

"This will help young people develop skills and connections to manage life's challenges-so nobody feels like an outsider in their own home town."

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