Continuing our series of Wild Swans blogs, here is Steph’s first attempt at a blog thing!
Well here goes, I am 19 years old and am joining the 21st Century with my first ever blog thing which is very down with the kids considering I don’t really understand what snap chat or instantgram is – much to the dismay of my college class!  Anyway I am part of the Wilderness Foundations’ Wild Swans programme which is working to help young women become leaders in their everyday life by utilising a number of skills of their own and managing a team ensuring that the team are on the most part happy and confident in what they are doing.
I didn’t know that I had to do this blog until today (Saturday 27th July) so I am going to attempt to blog about the first two seminars without sending you all to sleep!  I on the other hand, am sitting here at 23.39 at night trying and failing to stay cool long enough to get to sleep, so never one to waste an opportunity here goes:
The first time I met the other people on the programme was in a Board Room at the Foundation in Chatham Green on a Friday evening.  We all sat around the table and the only person I knew was Jo, the CEO of WFUK and we were all asked to tell each other a little about ourselves.  As the conversation continued I realised that I was in the room with young women that either worked in local government or the medical sector, and I found myself thinking that there was no way I could match up being a little travel and tourism BTEC student.  However, I soon realised that they were all the warmest most welcoming people I had ever met and did not care where I had come from.
As the evening continued we went for a walk and set up camp and were lucky enough to have Justine Laymond, a double lung transplant recipient, come and talk to us.  This woman was truly inspirational not for what she had been through, although that is enough to test some of the strongest people,  but that she never gave up and was determined to make the best out of every situation life could throw at her.
Unfortunately due to a trip the next day, I was unable to stay the night or the next day, but I hear they all had fun!  I did stick around long enough to discover the brilliance of chocolate and banana cooked on a campfire – which if you ever get the chance to do I would highly recommend it.
Anyway time quickly passed and we found ourselves gathering for the next seminar which was based on communication.  We located ourselves close to where the camp was last time and attempted to stay cool by moving into the shade and away from the sun.  As the day progressed we talked about the importance of using the right communication and applying it to different situations that well we but mostly me had experienced.
Do I still have your attention?  One hopes so as the next part of the day involved trees, blindfolds and a lot of trust. But to complete what I learnt about communication is that it has to be clear for all to understand and that I can take my own experiences and now see what I got right and wrong and use that to make sure I get it right next time.
So I move onto the tree!   We were asked to disorientate our blindfolded partner, lead them to a tree, make them feel it, disorientate them again and then send them to find their tree – unblindfolded of course!  But I started this exercise by making my partner jump and then informing her that I am dyspraxic which was a really good start in trying to build trust in your partner NOT !  As we progressed with the exercise I was not filled with much self confidence in full knowledge that if anything was to happen to my partner it would be my fault and the trust between us would be lost.  Yet hoping that my partner had trust in me which seemed to work as she told me that she didn’t know that I was not confident thank god which proves that even if you are doubting yourself you must always show your team that you are in control and calm.
So as I reach the end of the world’s longest blog I must thank my hero and strength – Jo for informing us a little on her journey in life and making me see that it is possible for one person to to change the lives of so may because she has most certainly changed mine and I thank her for that.  But if she or anybody asks I will of course deny all knowledge 🙂  Right back to my attempt at getting some sleep –  I must thank my cat Toby for helping me to write this blog he’s a very good typist – shame no one can understand it.