A grade 12 Portage Collegiate student got to experience Parliament Hill in person last week.

Alexandréa Nadeau was selected as part of the Forum for Young Canadians held in Ottawa Feb. 20th to 25th. 120 students were selected from across the country, with only eight being chosen from Manitoba.

"Candice Bergen actually mailed me some information about the event and I went online to learn more about it," says Nadeau. "Through the week we had a tour of Parliament. We got to sit in on question period in the House of Commons, we also got a few presentations at the Senate. There was an MP reception where a few Members of Parliament came and had dinner with us, and the next morning we had breakfast with some of the Senators."

A shot of most of the students that took part in the Forum for Young Canadians. (Submitted Photo)

Nadeau says it was a lot more than just a tour of Parliament.

"We took part in some really fun simulations. There was a financial one where we had to basically balance the budget of the Country. It was interesting, but it was really hard too. There was an election one where we elected a party leader from our group, then campaigned and everything. We did a trade simulation where we facilitated a trade between Chile and Canada, we negotiated everything with it so it was really cool."

She says she learned a lot more about the Canadian government during the trip and encourages all students to apply when they can. She adds even if you don't know a lot about politics, it will be very interesting. She plans to take Political Science in university.