When I first signed up I had no idea what a wonderful and exciting opportunity it would be that has actually changed my mindset for the better. I started off on the 14th of July. We were told to meet at a local college. I was going with my friend Cara so I wasn't really that nervous although to be honest I was not expecting great things let alone the amazing experience that was in store for me. I was told that Cara and I were to be in Team Reiss which is the drama group (Waheyy) and after being given a very comfy NCS hoody we headed of to our teams room. We were introduced to our team leader and group and soon we set off the beautiful Wales. When we arrived out our hostel we were told there would be no Wifi but instead this gorgeous view.
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I found out I was sharing with 4 other lovely girls who were in my team. Our team bonded so quickly and I was close to all of them. We then unpacked and went downstairs for dinner. We then had an evening session with our team leader and group. We went through some rules and signed a contract. We then chatted for a while and played some games. We had to be in bed by 10:45 for the next day. The following few days went very quickly. The first day we had a few group trust exercises doing things like assembling our selves on a beam in height order without talking and trying to fit all 13 of us on a small wooden square. Then it was time for abseiling. I am absolutely terrified of heights and to make things worse BBC Wales were there to film it. I got to the top of the tower and I was shaking. I just couldn't let myself drop. The instructor was being so nice to me but it still didn't help my nerves. I was constantly hearing cheers of support from my team at the bottom and a BBC camera was right in my face the whole time after about literally 15 minutes (Felt like an hour) I finally got to the bottom. If you want to see a very unflattering picture of me abseiling and a voice recording of the whole thing head to this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-28391667
It felt amazing to actually get to the bottom though! Over the next few days we participated in rock climbing, canoeing, hiking up mount Snowdon and camping. During camping we made a huge fire and roasted marshmallows on it. The week was truly amazing and waking up to the gorgeous view every morning was brilliant.
We then had the weekend to rest and catch up with friends then we were off to Brunel university for the second week. The first day was spent learning how to be a good public speaker. It was quite fun and we all learnt something. We also had to live like uni students for a week... without the alcohol. We had to cook for ourselves which was actually pretty fun. We all shared a flat with the girls in Team Reiss and I got on with all of them so it was great. In the evening session our team leader started to play the guitar and we all made up our own song which is pretty cool. We then had to do things like make human pyramids. On the second day we headed down to an elderly peoples home with people suffering from dementia. To be honest the experience there wasn't too great. It was very depressing but I guess that's what to be expected and it made us all realise that we should take all opportunities we have in life. When we got back to university we started working on our talent show sketch. Ours basically involved us mocking all the other team leaders in a short play we made up. We then also played some games and sung round the guitar. The third day we had to head back to the elderly peoples home. This time we played some old songs for them which they really enjoyed. It was then time for the talent show which was really fun and everyone really liked our sketch. During the week we also had drama lessons which I really enjoyed as I'm really into acting. On the last day we did a showcase displaying what the elderly peoples home was like.
Then the third week rolled a round. This one we stayed at home for which was a downside as I loved staying with everyone but we were at college 10 am-5 pm everyday. We had to start a campaign. We chose ours to be about the education system and how we need to have more passionate teachers. We pitched our ideas to the dragons in a dragons den like situation and we got full funding. So we will be working on our project in September.
Overall it is an amazing experience which I think every 16-17 year old should go on. It is only £30-£50 for the whole 3 weeks and I really loved it. If you want to go but are worried you might be out of your comfort zone please do it! You really will not regret it!
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