I remember I was so excited to do DofE. The walking. The hanging out with friends. The new experiences with volunteering. I can remember being at the half way point on our first day and just eating lunch and talking with everyone and the teachers about random things that you wouldn’t expect teachers to care about, and as we went to leave I had to find the compass and we spent maybe 5 minutes looking for it, just for me to find in in my pocket. I think the thing about DofE that I loved the most was the time I spent just with my friends and having a laugh and seeing new places on our travels, as well as meeting so many people and friends doing volunteering and learning new skills to take into the future. I find a lot of my favourite memories of DofE are the little moments when with friends or playing tag at the camp or when my friend Tom dropped his pasta on the grass and had to pick it up, or making meals for dinner with my tent mate - things that seem so small in the moment but have become my favourite memories to think about. I remember just laughing the whole time and singing random songs as we walked through fields, us waving at the cows we passed or saying hi to the other teams as we walked.

I can remember being a bit lost on a hill and this other team from a different school also being lost as we bumped into them and we just laughed and got to the know them and helped each other find the paths. DofE also showed me how nice the locals are - we got lost in a village and the signs didn’t match up to the map and we went and asked these local people for help and they were just so helpful and kind. Overall DofE allowed me to create so many memories thought out the whole experience not just the walks, and has taught me so many skills that I have used in other times in my life and has led me to meet so many people that have become some of my best friends today. I honestly love to look back on DofE all the time and just smile about how lucky I was to be able to do