Undergraduate /
The experience which I feel shaped my character the most was the Duke of Edinburgh Award. [11]
I tried rewriting it completely and am a lot happier with the result. Is this the direction I should be taking?
The experience which I feel shaped my character the most was the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The DofE award was something I had often heard about from other people but had never looked into myself. When starting Sixth Form I was determined to apply myself in more ways than just academic, everyone goes that route. I wanted to do something which would really help me experience more things other than daily college activities. The DofE Gold award was the perfect answer to me, I would not just be exploring one activity, I would be discovering four different activities for the first time. Along the way I would do community service and work with new people which would build my character in a way which would benefit others, not just myself
The three activities which I feel had the biggest impact on my character were boxing, volunteering at my local shop and a residential in the Scottish Highlands. Boxing built on my natural inquisitive nature and encouraged me to be more bold in making decisions to do things. Volunteering was a fantastic opportunity, it made me think more about what I could do for people not for myself and the residential was a demonstration of my ability to keep going even under miserable circumstances
Boxing was utterly different to what I would normally do, I have always gone on solitary bike rides or runs for exercise, I had never done anything that different. Taking the step to start boxing was huge for me, the equivalent to going on stage for the first time in front of a huge crowd. When i first stepped into the gym and saw people leaping forward to hit each other I immediately thought "this is going to be the worst six months of my life". But I quickly disregarded this and decided that I would simply have to throw myself into it and do the best I could. This decision to go straight in was not only the correct decision to make, but also demonstrated how trying my hardest to overcome a challenge was a fundamental part of my character. Over the 6 months I went boxing I became extremely more confident in myself. Taking the biggest step I could seemed the natural thing to do now. It changed my character in a way that affected me throughout my life.
When I had completed the boxing section it was time for my residential. This ended up being a clear demonstration of my newfound confidence and determination to overcome challenges. With the exception of 1 person, the 7 people who I shared the residential with turned out to have absolutely no regard for their companions. Coupled with the mountain walking in heavy snow and exhausting treks along hilltops It was possibly the most miserable week I have had for a long time. But I decided early on that I would simply have to put the maximum effort in and weather the unending unpleasantries of my companions. In the end I not only completed the residential I was able to often outperform many of my companions, all of whom were fitter and stronger than me. My determined nature and desire to not give up made sure I completed it with flying colours.
The volunteering in my local shop was probably the best character-enhancing activity I did as it did not benefit me, it benefited the people around me. having to get up early on a Saturday and work for free in my community meant that I understood that enhancing my character did not just mean myself, it also meant that by bettering myself as a person it would better other people as a result. Community service helped to build up a sense that helping people was not just doing a stint at a shop for a year, it was to do it all the time, not just when you were told to do it
The DofE award really helped to shape my character, I had always been nervous about trying new things even though I am fascinated by the world around me, it changed me as person as I realised that being confident was actually a fundamental part of me, I should step back from looking at the final goal and concentrate on the steps towards it.
@justivy03 Thank you very much, this support I am receiving from both of you is incredibly useful, especially as I have never written something like this before!
