Just before the Summer half term, 1st year BTEC Level 3 Applied Science students spent three days in the Brecon Beacons, staying together in self-catered accommodation. The students have written below about their experiences and what they feel they gained during the trip.
Laura
“The South Wales Residential Trip was such an amazing experience in a new environment in which I have never been to before. This trip involved hiking, team building and relaxing after a long year’s hard work. The hiking was rather strenuous on one occasion but I was able to strengthen my existing friendships and we created new bonds with others. This hike allowed me to keep resilient and motivate others as some may have found it a lot more difficult than me. The skills used will help me in the future as I want to study either Aerospace Engineering, Finance and Accounting, Adult Nursing or Pharmacy. This trip also taught that I should come out of my comfort zone and trying new things, learning how to be independent.”
Safiya
“I began the journey hesitant and not sure what to expect from hiking by the Afommellte river and walking along the Sgwd wr Elra waterfall trail. Overcoming the struggles associated with such strenuous physical activity was an achievement for me and it reminded me of the perseverance needed to successfully complete challenges even when faced with adversity. Living in accommodation with my classmates gave me the opportunity to employ leadership skills when it came to decision making. Creating the shopping list, planning the meals and organising teams was integral to the organisation of the day and it was particularly interesting to me as I would like to pursue a career in Nutrition and Dietetics, studying at The University of Surrey.”
Annalise
“This residential trip helped me to have stronger team work skills and build stronger friendships. This will help me in the future as I want to study biomedical science and become a research scientist. Communication skills and team work skills are important in this profession. In a research facility you must communicate and work effectively as a team. Finally, we swam in a lake, which tested my endurance as I had to endure the cold temperature of the water in the lake. This relates to my future profession as I would have countless research sources in which I have to endure through analysing the sources.”
Ismail
“The Wales residential trip gave me a perspective on the true meaning of team work. I have been on a hiking expedition and swam in a lake. Each activity required a lot of patience, knowledge and team work. I felt that I did well in all the activities. When it came to team work, I admired how our group managed to help each other during the hiking as it is very easy to hurt yourself up a mountain.”
Jeremiah
“The Wales residential trip has been amazing, adventurous, relaxing and fun. In the future, I would like to be a pilot in the Navy and this experience has taught me skills that will relate to that. In the Navy as a pilot I will need to go on adventures that are fun but potentially long and dangerous – I will need to be very patient in the service and wise during training and missions. There will also be a lot of team work in the Navy e.g. me and my colleague in the cockpit will need to work together. Most important thing is everything during my time in the Navy and in the missions would need to be organised!”
Anika
“This trip was a great experience, I developed my team working skills and learnt that I can persevere through tough things like hiking. Hiking enabled me to come out of my comfort zone and try something new. I was able to build new relationships with people I have never worked with before and to work within a team and communicate well with my teammates, for example when shopping in Asda I had to make sure I was assigned the right tasks like getting specific ingredients. This trip has taught me Independence as I am aspiring to be psychiatrist and that is a key skill when working alone.”
Joseph
“Coming to Wales and doing extra-curricular activities gave me the chance to be active and explore wild life of both water and land creatures, and a variety of different plants and flowers. Doing this our observation skills were put into practice and this was tested with scientific questions that yearned our reasoning and data analysing skills. We also got to work together as a team not only in finding answers to scientific questions but also in preparing meals and waking each other up to meet deadlines. In assisting my peers, I took divisions of the work load by preparing the starter meal and the aiding with the other meal preparations. I was so excited in discovering wild garlic flowers of a sweet taste that later explodes as peppery, and the fact that I had to chance to include it into my starter dish.”
