Sam Gosling
Being involved in the DofE introduced me to the life skill of perseverance. At each level I found the expeditions tough and demanding and in each one I considered quitting from the programme on the spot. But I learnt to persevere with the task at hand.
On the first day of our silver final expedition on Exmoor, it had rained non-stop. The tent was packed away wet which is never ideal (we camped the night before the expedition started). On pitching our tent that evening we found that the inside was wet as were most of my clothes, roll mat and the outside of my sleeping bag. I wanted to cry and go home. I couldn't bear another day of walking in the rain in wet clothes and another night of sleeping in a wet tent. The saving grace however was that the inside of my sleeping bag was dry. Clinging to that one positive of a warm and dry night's sleep helped break the challenge down. Just get through the night and see what the morning brings. I had a mug of hot chocolate to cheer me up and tried to stay positive. Thankfully the next day was sunny and we were able to dry the tent out.
During my Gold practice expedition on Dartmoor my feet took a battering. They got wet early on during the first day and after walking miles over earth hummocks aka elephant grass my feet were sore and blistered and I had gone over on my ankles multiple times. Again I wanted to quit, but the desire to gain my Gold award and avoid having to repeat the expedition gave me the perseverance to push through the pain and discomfort.
When I was presented with the Gold Award at St James's Palace in October 2014, it was attended by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Initially, everyone was a bit tense and nervous but the Duke made us feel at ease. As he was leaving the ceremony the Duke paused at the door, turned round and wished us a Happy Christmas - the first person to do so that year - and it made us all laugh. I always think back to that fondly whenever the Duke has been in the news since then.
On the first day of our silver final expedition on Exmoor, it had rained non-stop. The tent was packed away wet which is never ideal (we camped the night before the expedition started). On pitching our tent that evening we found that the inside was wet as were most of my clothes, roll mat and the outside of my sleeping bag. I wanted to cry and go home. I couldn't bear another day of walking in the rain in wet clothes and another night of sleeping in a wet tent. The saving grace however was that the inside of my sleeping bag was dry. Clinging to that one positive of a warm and dry night's sleep helped break the challenge down. Just get through the night and see what the morning brings. I had a mug of hot chocolate to cheer me up and tried to stay positive. Thankfully the next day was sunny and we were able to dry the tent out.
During my Gold practice expedition on Dartmoor my feet took a battering. They got wet early on during the first day and after walking miles over earth hummocks aka elephant grass my feet were sore and blistered and I had gone over on my ankles multiple times. Again I wanted to quit, but the desire to gain my Gold award and avoid having to repeat the expedition gave me the perseverance to push through the pain and discomfort.
When I was presented with the Gold Award at St James's Palace in October 2014, it was attended by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Initially, everyone was a bit tense and nervous but the Duke made us feel at ease. As he was leaving the ceremony the Duke paused at the door, turned round and wished us a Happy Christmas - the first person to do so that year - and it made us all laugh. I always think back to that fondly whenever the Duke has been in the news since then.
