I’ve never been a camping type of girl, but my entire year had decided to take part in DofE and I thought to hell with it, why not do it with my friends. To start of with, before the expedition I had already greatly improved my cello playing by doing my grade 5 theory exam as well as my grade 6 music exam and I shall always remember the feeling of great joy when I received my ABRSM certificate stating I’d achieved a Distinction! However, when I had arrived at the expedition I was thrilled to see all of my friends and especially my team yelling at me to come over and meet our instructor. Once we had all been formally introduced we instantly started on our expedition in the Chilterns. After hours and hours of trekking through fields, meadows , woods and farms full of horses and cows, it was lovely to come back to camp and set up our trangias and cook our food. I shall always carry the fond memories of playing hide and seek in the fields, eating s’mores together around the campfire , being chased by cows, feeding horses and most importantly - making stronger friendships and holding closer bonds with my teammates - becoming a team and working together to solve issues such as being lost or being caught in the rain strengthened my relationships with my friends and molded me into a better person today - a person who’s willing to compromise, a person who’s more confident , a person who is more fearless and most importantly, a person who now fully appreciates the beauty of teamwork and additionally being strengthened by the great outdoors and being shaped into a stronger and more confident young woman and I shall always hold the treasured memories of my bronze DofE close to my heart - thank you Prince Phillip for creating this spectacular award and program - I shall always be humbled to have been able to take part in it and become a much more mature and strengthened individual.