On the last day of our qualifier, quite close to the end, a massive storm started with thunder, lightning and LOTS of rain. It wasn’t ideal but the adrenaline just made it fun. As our teacher turned up in her van, lightning struck the field we were meant to go through (there was a gate that we were going to cut the string with but decided it wasn’t meant to be, so went down the road instead) we all ducked and then ran to the drive of the house at the end of the road where we dumped our bags and stood on a pile of stones. We got the tracker out and pressed the emergency button on it, and threw away the metal clip on it because it was metal. A bit later another van with our teachers came, but again there were no seats in it so our 24 year old form teacher stayed with us. My friend had a white t shirt on that was transparent from the rain so we’re talking about who would win a wet t shirt competition. Eventually the van came with seats and so we were picked up and taken to the bus, where the group who paced it and took barely any breaks (like a 10 min lunch) were, and had managed to get to the bus before the storm. They were complaining because everyone else who did it at a normal pace was getting picked up. The whole experience was so funny, especially to look back on. Although D of E was painful, it was so funny and I have so many memories to look back on, so I’m really grateful that I had the opportunity to do it. Thank you to the Duke of Edinburgh for your service and opportunities that so many young people have been able to participate in.