How Sofiia’s Residential helped her discover confidence, community, and career inspiration

Sofiia started her Gold DofE after moving to the UK from Ukraine. Despite it being completely new to her, Sofiia jumped straight in. From volunteering at the British Heart Foundation for her section, to canoeing for the first time, she has been able to discover new experiences, develop her confidence and make new friends.

Read more about her:

Moving to the UK bought many challenges for Sofia, including English being her second language. She was worried that this would be challenging during the Expedition, as she was away from her family. However, during the Expedition, Sofia made new friends who she became very close with, describing them “like a family” over their Gold Award. She says that she has never been “immersed in nature” for that long, and enjoyed spending time outside, away from scrolling on her phone.

For her Residential section, Sofiia took part in a week-long programme on ‘Introduction to Horse Racing’ with the British Racing School. Having never ridden a horse before or even been close to one, she admits she was quite scared at first, but throughout the week her confidence grew and she enjoyed the experience, especially when they had the opportunity to ride the horses themselves.

“In Ukraine I did not have the opportunity to do horse riding in the area where I lived. It was such a dream for me to do horse riding when I was younger. The residential at the British Racing School changed my mind about jobs – it made me think about whether I’d like to be sitting in an office, or outside spending time with animals, and think I’d love to do something with horses.”

After her Residential, Sofiia wants to go horse riding again is even exploring the possibility of a career with horses. Although describes herself as “too tall” to be a jockey, she says that being around animals has made her question whether she would suit an office job, or whether her heart is spending time outdoors and in nature.

The fact that the Residential was free, funded by the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust, was also important to Sofiia. After moving to the UK from Ukraine says, “when we moved here we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on random things – DofE was a random thing, but it’s been really good for trying something new without being too expensive.”

“DofE is an experience I would like to do it again and again. I loved how I was spending my time. While other people were scrolling on their phones, I was outside doing something I enjoy.”