I participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award in 2019. This is my story. So my friends Teniola, Ruth, Delina, Vanessa and Frances all applied to take part of Dofe and we all got accepted, which made our experience more fun. Once we got accepted we were informed of the rules, what the course is all about and what will happen during 9 month course, the process was long and many people dropped out but we managed to pull through and make it to the end. We all made sure we did our tasks and paid attention in all the lessons. Once we had completed the evidence part of the course and the practice walks we were prepared for the final excursion. Now this was the cherry on top of the cake, our instructors had provided us with all the necessary survival equipment we needed and my friends and I were excitedly nervous to start the journey but we we felt prepared physically for what we were about to face. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into .Day 1 - The first day was the most difficult we have to get used to understanding the map and finding a way around the course, we got lost many times bombarded with multiple dead ends and restricted areas. However, on the way we observed breath-taking sites from the top of mountains and encountered many animals along the way. Things we’re running smoothly until the worst thing happened, it began to rain HEAVILY, prior there was lighter rain but it later emerged to storm- like weather. We suffered, we had to fight our way through the building mud that kept growing and growing, to the point we were sinking into the grass, we even had to to run through deep puddles in the ground. Funnily one of my friends slipped and fell into the mud which was a highlight for us. Even our instructors said that this was the worst weather to ever happen in Duke of Edinburgh history.
Thank you.