Tuggeranong teenager April Goldsby is nothing if not independent.
"A lot of people say that," she said.
![Canberra teenager April Goldsby (second from left) at a preliminary final for Miss World Australia.](/web/20170413152018im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/j/g/h/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvjdvr.png/1491977814516.jpg)
At 15 she travelled to Vietnam by herself to model.
"I had my 16th birthday there," she said.
![Canberra teenager April Goldsby, then aged 15, in Elle Vietnam magazine.](/web/20170413152018im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/j/g/j/5/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvjdvr.png/1491977814516.jpg)
"I did a bit of everything but my greatest accomplishment was doing editorial work for Elle magazine." (Yes, Vietnam does have its own local version of the magazine.
At 18, she's now living in Melbourne to further her modelling career. She's done work with Billabong, online boutiques and for an organic body scrub, to name a few.
And because she's now living in Melbourne, she's working to represent Victoria in the Miss World Australia competition.
April made it through a preliminary final and will now take part in the Victorian state final in Melbourne in June.
![Canberra teenager April Goldsby is in the Victorian final of Miss World Australia.](/web/20170413152018im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/j/g/i/u/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvjdvr.png/1491977814516.jpg)
The national final will be decided the following month.
She's now one step closer to winning a luxury holiday to Thailand and a $45,000 crown from Phuket Pearls.
![Canberra teenager April Goldsby was approached by organisers to be in the competition.](/web/20170413152018im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/j/g/i/0/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvjdvr.png/1491977814516.jpg)
Along the way, as part of Miss World Australia, April is fundraising for Variety Australia: the Children's Charity.
April grew up in Theodore, the middle child of Kim and Brett.
She was just 12 and still a student at St Francis of Assisi Primary School when she started modelling, entering the Miss Country Girl Australia Model Search.
She went on to study at Trinity Christian School in Wanniassa.
The chance to compete in Miss World Australia was something that almost fell in her lap.
"I was approached by them to enter so I saw it as a sign - 'I have to do it'," she said.
"I'm really excited."
April has returned home to Canberra to focus on her fundraising duties, knowing how generous Canberrans can be and how they like to back their own, in whatever field of endeavour.
"Canberra has just got that community spirit which I love," she said.
To donate, visit April's everyday hero page: https://missworldaustralia2017.everydayhero.com/au/variety-childrens-charity-april-s-miss-world-beauty-with-a-p