Sitting cross-legged on the floor of a pre-school, Deng Adut tells a room full of five and six-year-olds what his life was like at their age, snatched from his mother and forced to become a child soldier in Sudan.
The refugee turned lawyer tells them how he cried every day and night.
He tells them how their lives are different, with school, and food, and friends, and how they can achieve whatever they want in life, if they stay at school and listen to their parents.
"I'm never listening to mummy and daddy," one boy yells.
"My baby sister is four, she's up to my chin," another chimes in.
The Australian of the Year finalist was at Lyons Early Childhood School in Canberra on Tuesday to visit a five-year-old fan who shares his name, and thank the school for raising money for his charity, the John Mac Foundation.
The charity, named after Mr Adut's older brother who died helping civilians escape rebel forces, raises money to help refugees get to university.
Little Deng Akesh, beaming in his three-piece suit and wearing Big Deng's fedora, says he wants to be just like him.
"Yeah I'm going to be the same," he told AAP.
"He can take me to Sydney one day, that's going to be good."
Mr Adut plans to use his year as NSW Australian of the Year to keep inspiring kids like Deng.
"It's important for me to tell him a story which he will follow," Mr Adut said.
"He came from Sudan - Sudan is not a beautiful country. He was born in Australia, a beautiful country.
"I want him to know and to appreciate the value of this country and the freedom that we always enjoy."
