Cub Camp

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, I help out with my local cub group. I love doing this; the children are all lovely and I just find it so fun and rewarding to help out with them and get to learn things about them. I find it is also useful for when I hopefully become a paediatrician, as I have a lot of experience of working with children.

The explorer helpers arrived on Saturday to set up the campsite for the cubs, who arrived the next day. This involved 14 tents, including 2 marquees, and transporting everything to inside the marquee. The Sunday morning, all the food for nearly 30 people for a week arrived… We roped in the scouts to help us out, and after sixteen crates of food had been delivered, unpacked it all. Then, the cubs arrived and the challenge started!

On the first night, we had a very enthusiastic campfire singalong that the explorers led, in which I taught the cubs a new song that they promptly all sang for the rest of the week!
Throughout the week, the cubs did things such as zipwire, crate stacking, abseiling, horse riding, nature and picture trails, a big hike to a carvery and back, before the Thursday; their last full day was spent at the seaside. We crabbed for a while before lunch, and then walked along the spit to Hurst Castle for a look around. Then, we took the ferry back. That evening, we also had one last campfire with the cubs, with a slightly more tired but nevertheless, loud singalong!

On the Tuesday evening, the explorers had also put together our “dream team” for the camp wide volleyball tournament that was held every week.. Team JCB got through to the semifinals, and was calculated to be around 4th place, which was fun. Even though it was slightly humiliating after being told by an instructor that they could hear my screams when the ball came towards me from their accommodation… a good few hundred metres away… my bad!

We also put together a big quiz for the cubs one night, with a special section on the explorers. Highlights from this round included:
How many toes does — have?
On a scale from 1-10, according to Colin, how attractive is —?
How many moles does — have on his face?
What is —‘s middle name?
Who did — accidentally try to chat up, believing it was some girls?

After the cubs left on the Friday, the explorers collapsed at base for a while, exhausted. We then drove to McDonalds to get dinner, and the other explorers arrived at about 8. From then, the chaos began… 😉

Cub camp was an amazing experience and I can honestly say that I do understand what people mean when they say they find volunteering rewarding. Watching the enjoyment of the cubs was amazing, and learning their different personalities was great. I watched them develop as people and challenge fears of heights, horses, spiders, the dark… it was amazing. It also made me mature as a person and improved my leadership and teamwork skills.

Work Experience

One of the local GPs was kind enough to allow me to come around with her on a few home visits, and it was honestly such an interesting experience.

It was so cool to get first hand experience with patients, being able to see the sort of correct bedside manner, and how different illnesses require different types of behaviour. Also, it was interesting to see how age and mobility of the patients affected the types of treatment given and the path to diagnose them. I witnessed why keeping the patient’s dignity intact was so important, and was even able to answer the questions directed at me by the GP about why she was doing certain things correctly, which I was really chuffed by. It was also great to be able to ask questions and get them answered by someone in the profession.

It was such an interesting day and I learnt so much. Seeing this sort of thing really makes me sure I want to study medicine and become a doctor, because I find it all so fascinating.

Taster A Levels

We had a day at school where we had an hour of each of the a levels we planned to take. The future sixth formers wore formal, work wear, like we have to when we go into sixth form. It was a great day to meet new people coming in, and get a feel for what it is like in sixth form.

My lessons were so interesting, and it just made me more excited for the challenge sixth form is going to be! I’ve recently read the books we’re going to study in English Lit; Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange, and loved them, so I can’t wait to study them in year 12!

Our head of sixth form is really lovely and friendly, and it was just a really good day, and a nice opportunity to learn more about how sixth form differs from lower down the school. I’m looking forward to getting my clothes for it! I already have a couple of dresses and tops.