Sunday 29 June 2014

Gold D of E and stuff

I'm back! A little later than I said but it's still Sunday so I guess that's not too bad. On Wednesday I didn't actually explain where I was going so here you go...

On Thursday I left for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition having completed both the bronze and silver awards within the past two years. In case any of you are a little unsure about what the award is, I'll try to give a quick explanation but feel free to have a Google!

The D of E award is a collection of awards founded by Prince Philip (unsurprisingly, the Duke of Edinburgh) in 1956. It has a few sections: volunteering, physical, skills, expedition and, at gold level, residential. It is aimed to help young people develop various skills useful in all stages of life. For the expedition section there are quite a few options and for the first two awards I took part in a walking expedition. However, for my gold expedition I chose to canoe. Admittedly, at first I thought canoeing would be so much easier than walking as I wouldn't actually have to carry my bag but it wasn't long before I had changed my mind!

I woke up bright and early on Thursday morning to arrive at college for 7:30am and when I arrived I was very excited but also slightly anxious. After the 90minute journey to Windermere in the Lake District I was mainly just eager to start. We started by practicing recovering a capsized boat just in case anything did go wrong but then quickly moved on to the canoeing. We travelled a total of 18km quite successfully before arriving a  the first campsite. As campsites go, it wasn't too bad but we did have a couple of issues before being able to set up our tents and start cooking. As usual, I didn't sleep too well in the tent (blame low-flying aeroplanes) but what do you expect?

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn packing our tents away ready to start our second day of paddling. The weather was lovely (perhaps a little too hot at times) and we had a pleasant day covering 22km in total. We all arrived at the second campsite pretty exhausted and ready to eat but first we had to practice rescuing people from the lake which involved me getting extremely cold and wet! We then cooked and went to bed quite early ready for our third and final day.

On the final day we only paddled around 8km before practicing an all-in rescue which is just what it sounds like. Every canoe capsized and you have to get every member of the team back in their canoes. This seemed quite daunting at first but was actually a lot of fun! We then packed away and started to head home after a lovely but very tiring expedition. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it so should probably say a big thank you to the volunteers who helped organise it.

Just thought I'd give you an update on what I've been up to. If it wasn't really the sort of post you enjoy, I'm sorry and I'll be back with some more normal stuff soon.

Keep smiling!
Kathryn x

Wednesday 25 June 2014

See you soon

For the next few days I'm going to be away but I'll be back with a new post late Saturday or early Sunday.

Take care and keep smiling,

Kathryn

Monday 23 June 2014

Introductions

In my last post I didn't really get a chance to introduce myself so I thought that would be a good place to start. In exchange, I'd like to hear all about some of you! You can do this by commenting, posting a link to your blog or any other way you see fit.

I'm Kathryn! Just your average 17-year old girl from England. Currently I'm at college studying for my A-levels and, to be honest, I'm not quite sure what I'll do afterwards. I mean, I've got some ideas but they never seem to satisfy everyone's hopes and dreams.

In my spare time I like to do quite a lot of different things so if you get bored easily I'd skip this paragraph! I love to swim; both competing myself and coaching/teaching others. Basically, I just enjoy everything about being near the pool and the feeling of freedom it gives. And I do hear what you're thinking: 'what about all of those crazy early morning sessions?' But you don't mind when it's something you love, honest.

Also, I thoroughly enjoy reading (the best form of escapism!) and writing. Not usually anything in particular so I'm always open to new suggestions. In fact, I've almost finished reading Looking for Alaska (which I would definitely recommend ) so be expecting a review soon! I also love listening to music but my taste in music is often considered to be 'odd' or 'a little strange' to other people.

I have other hobbies too but I'll get around to them at a later date. I look forward to hearing from some of you!

Keep smiling, 

Kathryn x

Sunday 22 June 2014

New starts

So, a blog? Well this is something new for me! A brand new, fun and exciting adventure that I'll hopefully be able to share with all of you. 

It's important to try new things every once in a while and that is something I know all too well. However, I'm usually a person who struggles to embrace and new starts, thinking too much over things that have been and gone which I have no control over. In fact, for various reasons, I've kind of become more of a creature of habit which is something that I see as one of my biggest weaknesses. Thinking about this made me wonder how I can challenge myself to try new things, hopefully without worrying or panicking too much, and still have fun (because I appreciate that some new things genuinely are certifying and far from fun). So imaginekathryn was born...

I've always loved writing but never the sort where you are told what too write and when to write it. (1000 word essay on themes in An Inspector Calls anyone?) I decided that starting this blog will help me to continue this enjoyment with the freedom of choice; I can include absolutely whatever I like!

Last Wednesday I had my final AS level exam and though this would be a brilliant time to start - with the whole summer ahead of me. Over the next few weeks I have quite a lot of exciting things going on and I hope that you guys don't mind me sharing them with you! And more than anything I'd just like this to be a positive place to help make your lives happier at the dullest and darkest of times (as well as all of the happy ones!)

Keep smiling,

Kathryn