Education Pupil Viewpoint
Paving the way
T e website of Outlook Expeditions, describes the experience of trips like my forthcoming one to Madagascar as a means of broadening a teenager’s horizons and encouraging self-development. But as I’ve learned, it’s more than just about the breathtaking views, the lemurs, or the playing football with adoring local children, Prince Harry-style. Expedition aside, the real journey has been preparing for it, teaching me the values of work, thrift and teamwork, and giving me some fantastic experiences along the way. T e greatest challenge was raising enough money
Tom Hall navigates the highs and lows of raising funds for his expedition to Madagascar
to pay for the trip. I had a year to raise £2,500, and scarily little time to do it. My traditional options were limited by the fact that I hate washing cars more than anything else in the world, and – boys aren’t typically trusted with babysitting. I’m also hopelessly inept at any vocational task, and my initial attempts at painting the village hall will be recorded as a disaster (at least, until the mottled, rag-rolled eff ect of the 1980s returns to fashion). Happily, I found my forte in guitar tuition, a challenge which I really enjoyed and which steadily provided good income for relatively little eff ort; perfect for fi tting around GCSEs and extra-curricular commitments. Each team member going on the trip – there are 16 of us – has found at least one good money-earner that they enjoy, making the process much more manageable. I’ve also become much better at managing time and people through tuition, and teaching has been a very rewarding experience. As well as working to earn
money, I’ve found saving money to be just as lucrative. I kept a jar labelled “Madagascar” in my bedroom, which I fi lled with whatever spare change I had. It was satisfying to see the jar fi ll from day to day,
even if this was tempered by the murderous face of the cashier at the bank as she grudgingly counted out the hundreds of pennies I brought in each and every month.
Asking relatives for funds for the expedition rather than presents at Christmas was equally successful; everyone was much more generous in supporting the cause than they would have been with presents otherwise, and this boost to my savings was just what I needed at such a busy time of year, when I didn’t have much time to earn through work.
T rough this combination of work and almost puritanical
18 FirstEleven Autumn 2011
saving, I reached my total early, and using the money left over to buy expedition kit in a post-thrift spending spree was hugely satisfying. More rewarding, though, was each trip to the bank (cashier-bothering aside), watching my total increase and knowing that I was making this happen independently, and that I’d receive the benefi ts in a shorter and shorter period of time. I’m sure that this respect for the value of saving money will stay with me, keeping my “sights fi rmly set” on my future, if only after the novelty value of having disposable income for the fi rst time in a year wears off . Other aspects of my preparation that I was more apprehensive about turned out to be fi ne. I had to take an extensive course of injections, but these were painless, and I was able to return to exams or rowing straight after each one without any problems or side- eff ects. I didn’t mind the loss of free time either, as I quickly learned to manage my time more effi ciently, and to use the time I had much more eff ectively. Even trying a variety of unappealing types of work taught me what my strengths and weaknesses were, and how to develop them both.
My favourite part of this process, though, was working with the other participants. Together, we had to think of and organise group fundraising events, which were fun in themselves, as well as making us more enterprising and bolstering the friendships within the group. T is culminated in our group training day in April, a 24-hour trek across the Brecon Beacons, which were teeming with Welsh nationalists claiming to have “run for the hills” to escape the Royal Wedding. T is challenge was fun, and we learned a huge amount
about each other during the day. Each of us took turns to lead the group through the fog along the windswept paths, with cliff s plummeting into fog on either side. T e total trust built from that experience has stayed with us, and was one of the most valuable parts of the process. I leave for Madagascar in under a month, and I’m getting more excited every day. T e trip promises to be
“I hate washing cars – and boys aren’t
typically trusted with babysitting”
amazing, and I still can’t quite believe I’m getting this opportunity. But it’s the preparation itself, and all before I’ve set foot near the airport, that’s made me “confi dent”, “focused” and “self-aware” – and these skills will remain with me forever.
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk
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PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO
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