My Outward Bound trip
As part of the MS Amlin Jumpstart programme, which I applied for through The Brokerage, myself and the five other students taking part in the programme were invited on a summer adventure week at the Outward Bound centre in Wales, Aberdovey.
Having lived in London all my life, the centre provided the opportunity for me to enjoy and explore new surroundings; a detox from hectic city life. Initially, I was apprehensive about reaching out of my comfort zone and the week of surprises that were to come. However, by the end of the programme, we all shared the opinion that the Outward Bound was like no other adventure programme we knew of; it was a fully immersive week with challenging activities, increasing in intensity every day. From canoeing, to rock climbing, to camping out on the side of a mountain, we were always met with a new experience every day.
Upon arrival, myself and the other five students were placed into a group with seven other people we did not know. It was extremely refreshing meeting so many different people of a similar age, all from different parts of the country and different backgrounds and by the end of the week we all felt like we left with 11 new close friends. In addition, the instructors were inspirational, patient, and good fun.
We were faced with emotional and physical challenges and our time on expeditions definitely built up our resilience. Personally, a factor which contributed to my enjoyment of the experience was the fact that I always maintained a positive attitude especially when faced with uncomfortable situations. Through this, myself and others learned that we were much stronger and resilient than we thought. Going on any Outward Bound course will ensure you are given responsibility for planning tasks, setting goals and resource management. Consequently, this enhanced my ability to be independent and to take initiative.
The experience has most definitely played a big role in my excitement and confidence leading up to the start of the work placement at MS Amlin. For me, the Outward Bound has been the most memorable part of the Jumpstart programme and will definitely look for similar opportunities in the future.
The Outward Bound drives you to build on your communication skills, especially on expeditions. You have daily opportunities to develop leadership skills, support each other and work together to achieve something phenomenal. For example, going on a 12km hike up mountainous terrain to reach the next camp site and catching all the breath-taking views at the top of the mountains. As a team, we respected the fact that stamina and confidence varied across the group, so we nominated a leader to listen to everyone’s views and coordinate breaks. This taught us the importance of team effort, perseverance and patience in unexpected circumstances which made completion a very rewarding moment.
Written by Tahir
'