HIGHLIGHTS
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD When I first started Year 11, I thought GCSEs would be my biggest challenge. However after returning from my Silver DofE a few weeks ago, along with over 80 of my peers, I can safely say that my three day expedition was the most difficult, yet rewarding experience of the year so far. Armed with the knowledge of our practice expedition two weeks prior, including how to put up a tent, navigate, and avoid charging cows, we set off on our journey. Over the course of the three days, we weathered many challenges as a team. We packed up tents at 5am in biblical rain, walked 50+ kilometres, and dealt with too many blisters to count. However this only brought us closer, and nothing quite matched the feeling on the last day as we celebrated returning (relatively unscathed) to our families. Although there was nothing quite like hiking against the beautiful backdrop of the New Forest, some of the best moments were spent back at camp, huddled in our tents with various iterations of instant ramen and camping meals. So what did we learn from all this? Aside from core camping skills, I formed friendships with people I’d never even spoken to before DofE, and learnt that it was our differences as a group that allowed us to succeed. DofE gives you the chance to use your specific skills to aid your team, whether that be cooking, navigating or organisation, but also pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Our leaders were so encouraging (occasionally bribing us to walk with Haribos), and their knowledge was unparalleled. There was never a moment where we weren’t learning, and this was ultimately what made the entire experience so worthwhile. ~ Coroico B. 11PMU
9
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator