Cody Forrester wanted to be the first one in his family to go to university.
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But that dream looked to be coming to a screaming halt in Year 10 when the wheels just started falling off his teenage life.
There were issues with his family, his mental health had taken a nose-dive and suddenly he found himself at the point where he was planning to drop out of school, he revealed at Tuesday's Building Brighter Futures 3690 launch.
That's where the Albury Project came in.
Modelled on the pioneering Geelong Project, Albury was to become only the second place in Australia to adopt the initiative that brings schools and services together to identify and help young people "before things go really wrong".
At its heart the aim is to reduce the strain on crisis support services and intervene early to stop a young person's trajectory in life taking a dramatic - and often preventable - wrong turn.
Cody, who spoke as part of Wodonga's bid to campaign for funding for a similar project, said he wouldn't be where he is today if it wasn't for the Albury Project's timely intervention.
He was first identified as needing assistance as part of the annual youth survey conducted across the government high schools of Albury, James Fallon and Murray.
If this had been delayed by even one year, I know my future would have been very different.
- Cody Forrester
From there the team quickly stepped in to help Cody find a secure and safe place to stay in a local caravan park, to navigate "the hell that is Centrelink", take him to medical appointments and even give him a lift to get groceries.
It was to prove the difference between giving up and getting on with it.
Now, at 19 years of age, Cody is set to start a Bachelor of Business at Albury's Charles Sturt University next year.
He feels "extremely lucky" to be where he is today.
"If this (intervention) had been delayed by even one year, I know my future would have been very different," Cody said.
"And if I lived just 15 minutes away over the border, my life would have taken a totally different turn."
Every year 1500 local young people are at risk of homelessness and 450 leave school early, Cody said.
"Our youth are the future of this city, this state and this country - given we have approximately 8000 young people in Wodonga, do we want to lose one-fifth of them?"
