When my friends at school all started doing their Bronze and Silver awards I was unfortunately unable to join them. When they stopped the award scheme after either Bronze or Silver, I decided I wanted to find out what I had missed and went straight in for Gold! I still remember my father saying he did not think I had the strength or endurance to succeed in the expeditions, this made me even more determined! The expeditions where challenging, the blisters and the backbreakingly heavy rucksacks are all still vivid memories today; however the physical and emotional achievements made it all worthwhile. I accomplished so much more than I ever thought I could, from trekking with complete strangers, exploring mountains and countryside I would never normally go to and surviving wet and freezing conditions all allowed me to make memories forever and prove to myself, I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Volunteering at a local old peoples home and hearing their stories was amazing and so educational. My residential teaching teenagers how to sail yachts around the Baltic Sea still makes me smile as I remember the fun we all had and the new things we discovered. Receiving the award from the Duke of Edinburgh himself and my parents then treating me to an amazing afternoon tea at The Ritz to celebrate made the experience so wonderful. I look back on the challenges I undertook and know they have helped form the person I have become, and have given me so much more determination as I have grown up. I only hope that my children will in time take up the opportunity to experience the challenges and character building moments that I was fortunate enough to have undertaken.