Susan Stull
I have wonderful memories of participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, starting when I was 14 in the early 70s with my Bronze award, and culminating in the honor of receiving my Gold Award from HRH Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.
A highlight of my DofE experience occurred during my final year at school when I volunteered, every Friday afternoon, in the physical therapy department of a local school for physically disabled children. This led me to a career in Nursing which is still going strong after over 40 years! A particular memory that has always stayed with me is of helping a young boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy to learn to swim. His excited shrieks of “look at me, I’m swimming” caused quite a stir in the pool that day.
It is perhaps the expedition that is the most demanding aspect of the whole scheme. I undertook my Gold award expedition, along with four other girls, in the Brecon Beacons - an area known to be particularly unforgiving to hikers. Perhaps the lessons I learnt were best expressed by my then 17-year-old self, writing in my Gold expedition log… “we were far more confident in ourselves and our abilities than we had ever been before. We also got to know each other so much better, and we learnt to be much more tolerant of each other’s faults and shortcomings, which was vital as we were living so close together. Also, we learnt how to live under stress and how to tackle problems more level headedly…we were able, now, to laugh at the grueling parts and we were unanimous in agreeing that it had been well worth the occasional bickering, the aching feet, the sore shoulders, the flies, the heat, the rain and mist and, at the end, the exhaustion - worth all this for the tremendous sense of achievement to be had…”
Although it was with great sadness that I watched today the funeral of HRH Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in his DofE Award Scheme he has left us, and future generations of young people, a wonder
A highlight of my DofE experience occurred during my final year at school when I volunteered, every Friday afternoon, in the physical therapy department of a local school for physically disabled children. This led me to a career in Nursing which is still going strong after over 40 years! A particular memory that has always stayed with me is of helping a young boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy to learn to swim. His excited shrieks of “look at me, I’m swimming” caused quite a stir in the pool that day.
It is perhaps the expedition that is the most demanding aspect of the whole scheme. I undertook my Gold award expedition, along with four other girls, in the Brecon Beacons - an area known to be particularly unforgiving to hikers. Perhaps the lessons I learnt were best expressed by my then 17-year-old self, writing in my Gold expedition log… “we were far more confident in ourselves and our abilities than we had ever been before. We also got to know each other so much better, and we learnt to be much more tolerant of each other’s faults and shortcomings, which was vital as we were living so close together. Also, we learnt how to live under stress and how to tackle problems more level headedly…we were able, now, to laugh at the grueling parts and we were unanimous in agreeing that it had been well worth the occasional bickering, the aching feet, the sore shoulders, the flies, the heat, the rain and mist and, at the end, the exhaustion - worth all this for the tremendous sense of achievement to be had…”
Although it was with great sadness that I watched today the funeral of HRH Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in his DofE Award Scheme he has left us, and future generations of young people, a wonder
