DofE = MEPI (Mednarodno priznanje za mlade) in Slovenia

DofE was probably the longest extracurricular project in my life. In the five years that I've been a part of it, I've learned, been through, and grown a lot. It was a journey and a half. As the final certificate for achieving the Duke of Edinburgh's Award doesn't mean much to most people and especially potential employers and universities, I would like to give my whole story about my DofE experience in the following paragraphs. I hope you find it interesting to read.

*for the most exciting part, you can skip to the title "1st Expedition = fail"

Let's start at the very beginning...

Backstory - How I Met DofE

At the end of 2014, my secondary school (Gimnazija Vič) became a member of all Slovenian schools and organisations offering the DofE programme. I remember how my biology teacher, who was one of this project's leaders, introduced DofE during her class. Usually, I wasn't interested in school extracurricular activities because I had a pretty busy schedule filled with activities outside of school. The presentation touched me differently because it was said to be a challenging programme filled with activities that the participant chooses. This freedom-like basis was enough for me to be interested in it. The professor told us about the upcoming introductory presentation of the programme scheduled for a specific date, but I could not attend it. However, my classmate was kind enough to summarise the whole event for me and put me on a mailing list.

With her help, I learned more about the DofE - a programme for 14-24-year-olds that can be completed at one of three progressive levels that, when completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award. There are four sections to be completed at the Bronze and Silver level and five at the Gold level. These are Sport, Volunteering, Skills, Expedition, and Residential. The DofE is about setting personal challenges and overcoming personal limits.

I have always been a person who undertook multiple activities and engaged in all of them at an intermediate level. In this way, I never had the chance to master a particular subject or activity and eventually be officially recognised for the achievements that always counted in the end when I applied to university, for example. In this programme, I saw the opportunity - I could take the activities I am already pursuing, set a high goal for each of them, and work towards it. All by myself, for myself - no one could stop me from achieving my goal and getting the highest award but myself. DofE was a fair challenge that I wanted to take on.

And so my journey began. About 20 students, including me, signed up for the programme. Each group of about five students was assigned a mentor who helped us with the paperwork, setting our goals, and motivated us each month. As beginners, we started with the projects at the Bronze level of the programme. I set my activities and goals for each category and sought out instructors and assessors for each category.

*An assessor is a suitably qualified volunteer who can assist with and assess an activity undertaken for a section (Physical Recreation, Skills, etc.) of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and complete a report in the participants' records to confirm that they have met the requirements for their nominated section of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

The process of finding assessors and instructors was not so easy, mainly because these individuals would then be given the additional responsibility of mentoring my activities weekly. It was difficult for all the other participants and me to go to people and ask them for this favour. However, whoever I asked to be my instructor/assessor was happy to take on the task and help me achieve my goals.

Activities on the Bronze level

My bronze level activities and goals (each activity had to be at least 1hr/week):

Physical

I had been training sport climbing for five years, and as I loved the sport, I decided to take on a big challenge in this area. Before the DofE, I rarely climbed on crags because I was afraid of falling. I set myself the challenge of climbing an outdoor route of difficulty 7a or above after six months of training (2-3 times/week). With my coach, we focused on reducing my fear of falling by putting me in that situation every week - each week, I had to throw myself off the lead wall more than ten times. And I was making progress - so much so that one day I confidently started a route with a difficulty of 7a and...climbed it on a second attempt. That was one of the happiest moments in my life!

Skills

I was really into photography and wanted to set myself a challenge that would get me doing it more often, which would bring more people to my Instagram account. I set a goal to organically reach 150 followers on Instagram by posting regularly for three months. And I did it!

Voluntary

For this section, I decided to help my friend improve her math knowledge. In three months of math lessons (1 or 2h/week), we managed to bring her knowledge to the next level - she has not just passed the last exam (which was the goal) but got a higher grade. This activity made me realise how much I love helping others and enjoying seeing them succeed.

Along with other participants, we had group meetings where we prepared for the expedition - the 4th category in the programme. These "prep" times were the best - we went out into nature, set up a tent, cooked dinner, slept outside, learned lots of Scout tips and tricks for surviving in the wilderness, and most importantly, bonded on a deeper level.

As the months passed, I began to get used to the programme's whole concept and came to grips with the paperwork required to document each category's weekly activities. However, many other students hated it so much that they gave up. Out of about 20 initial participants, only five of us remained in the programme. After completing the three categories above, four of us participated in the final expedition.

The Bronze level expedition lasts two days and requires prior preparations, learning practical and theoretical skills to complete it. Preparations include mapping - determining the route (min. 40 km long for two days) that the group will follow during the expedition, knowledge of first aid, using maps, preparing food in the wilderness, camping, building physical stamina... There are two expeditions at each level. The first expedition is called the "trial expedition," it's the same as the final "qualifying expedition," but it doesn't count towards the records, although it is mandatory.

Before the first expedition, I thought DofE would be an easy project for me, and I was sure I would reach the top level of the award very quickly and steadily. Then life happened.

1st EXPEDITION = FAIL

May 2016

As the DofE leaders at our secondary school were new to the world of DofE (I was the first DofE generation ), we decided to join an all-Slovenian expedition rather than set it up ourselves.

I remember it was an early, foggy morning in Tržič (a small town in northern Slovenia), our starting point.

We were the first team to start - all packed with food, tents, and navigation equipment. It began to rain a bit, but we didn't care - we prepared for it - put on rain jackets, and continued our way through the forest. Carrying 15kg backpacks on our backs when going uphill was not so pleasant, but our team spirit was great, and we cheered each other on. Half of the day's distance was behind us very quickly, and we reached the highest point earlier than expected. We were thrilled!

The rain stopped, and we decided to continue our way after a short lunch break in Kofce (mountain top). Looking at the map, we saw a slight problem - there was not a single trail marked between our current location and the endpoint for that day. This made us confused, and we quickly missed the right direction and followed the wrong path. Luckily we figured it out after 10 minutes and not hours of hiking! We returned to the starting point and followed a different path. It was the right one - the compass saved us.

On the way to the most challenging part, we chose the wrong paths a few times but quickly got out of those awkward situations. We ran out of trails in the last two kilometres (air distance) to the final destination - better than nothing was a creek bed that made a would-be trail. The compass said it was the right direction, so we decided to follow it because we actually didn't have a choice.

Oh, I forgot to mention it - the rain returned to us, and it was pouring down, the sky was loud and full of lightning. The rain jackets didn't help anymore, and we were completely soaked. The "trail" wasn't a trail at all - we were jumping from rock to rock, the creek bed was slowly filling with water, and so were our shoes. I think I blistered my heel that day. After an hour or so of running downhill and figuring out which little path to take in the creek bed (so as not to fall into the water), the ground became muddy - so much so that we had difficulties moving our shoes out of the water with every step we took. After a few tedious minutes, the forest ended, and we saw an old house. We were back in civilization! I can still remember how relieved we felt.

We celebrated it for a few seconds but soon found out we had about 30 minutes to go. Those were the longest minutes ever! It was pouring rain, we were mentally and physically exhausted, and the trail was dead straight - extremely monotonous. We thought about pulling out umbrellas but then laughed because it was too late to save ourselves from getting totally wet. So we walked and walked...and then finally reached the final destination.

I was wearing ⅔ of all the clothes I had packed for this expedition, which meant I had very few dry clothes left to wear. I remember borrowing a sweater from a teammate and eating warm spaghetti strained over a t-shirt - that saved me from freezing over the evening. And that's how the first day ended. Two out of five groups abandoned the expedition after that disastrous day because they got lost and almost camped in the middle of the forest, took a wrong trail, hit the snowy part of the mountains, or were just too exhausted from the expedition.

The next day I remember putting on mostly wet clothes because they didn't dry overnight. We took off again and followed the trail brilliantly. After some time, we reached the spot where the map said a steep side trail should lead to the top of a smaller hill. Exactly where this path was on the map, we couldn't find any significant path in reality, but since the compass had saved us before, we decided to go that way anyway and use the compass to follow the right direction.

And that was a terrible idea - first, we climbed up a small stream, hoping the trail would miraculously appear. But it didn't. Since we were already pretty high and going downhill was more challenging than going uphill, we continued in that direction. We walked through small and wet spruce trees, growing 0.5 metres apart - it was painful. We walked like that for at least half an hour until we reached the area with tall trees.

After an hour or more of climbing on very steep, slippery terrain, we almost reached the top. But well...in front of us were 10 metres high rocks that we had to climb to reach the top. We tried to find another way, but we couldn't, so half of our team decided to climb it - the rocks were crushing under the team members' feet, and after long minutes they made it and reached the top. Another friend and I found another way - it was a 30 centimetres wide path that went around the rocks, above the dangerous raid. It was terrifying, especially with the heavy equipment we had. Now you probably know why I almost don’t have any photos from this expedition. ;)

Thank goodness we made it. I still can't believe what we did, but I think the adrenaline played an important role. Once we reached the top, we met our mentor, who was hugely worried about us because we were two or three hours late. If we wanted to continue our expedition, we would have to walk much faster than we had planned in our expedition plan to reach the destination before dark. Since two of my teammates were too exhausted, we abandoned the expedition. We failed. But we did our best. The organisers who checked our mapping and the path we had chosen did not check whether this path actually existed - it didn't. We later found out that the hill we were climbing straight up, with no sign of a trail, was 800m high and the only normal trail was on the other side of the hill - the trail the other two groups had taken.

It was such a horrible experience that half of the team quitted DofE.

I persisted, and the following year DofE leaders at my secondary school decided to organise an expedition on our own, using the route that teams from other schools had already tested. As there were only three of us who continued with the DofE programme, we had to find one participant from another school to join us. That is because the minimum number of participants in a team for an expedition is 4. We found her, and I can say that this expedition, which took place near the Slovenian coast in sunny weather, was much more enjoyable - we managed to complete it.

To complete the bronze level, I had to complete another - qualifying expedition. It was near the coast too. This time only two of us managed to join the expedition, so we had to join a team from another secondary school. It was another nice expedition, except for the rain that caught us by surprise at the end. 

After two years, only I and one other girl finished the Bronze DofE level. Yay!

On my way to gold

I was the only one in my secondary school willing to continue with the programme. I skipped the silver and decided to aim for gold instead. To do this, I had to do an activity for 18 months (instead of 12).

My activities and goals at the gold level: 

Physical

For the Gold level, I decided to challenge my climbing skills even more. My goal was to climb a sport climbing route graded at least 7c without fear. Pretty much after a year and a half of training, I managed to climb my first route of such difficulty. And I lost the fear of falling!

Skills

For this section, I stuck with photography and took it to the next level. Under a professional photographer's guidance, I took photos every week and then selected and edited the 13 best shots to create my own professionally made calendar for 2019.

Voluntary

In this area, I taught my friend French. The goal was to bring her proficiency in the language from 0 to proficiency of B graded students in the first year of secondary school. After a year of weekly lessons, she completed the exam (corrected by the secondary school professor) with grade 4 (B).

Residential

Residential was the additional section specific to the Gold level. During this activity, you have to spend five days and four nights away from home doing an activity together with people you have never met before. For my residential, I chose to work as an educator at an English camp for children. My mentor for this activity gave me possible dates of camps to choose from that I could potentially attend. I chose all but one - because it was my brother's birthday during that period. The mentor contacted me a few weeks later and told me that the only chance for me to join was when I said I couldn't attend. I really wanted to complete this activity, and so I took this chance.

I also started working for a company during this time. I told them I needed five days off to attend the camp. They were not happy with that, and those "vacations" (which were actually workdays) were the only ones I had during the whole 2.5 months of work in the summer. The English camp went very well; I learned a lot about the best approaches to working with children and met many new friends among the other educators and staff.

4-day Expeditions

The expedition was again, just like at the Bronze level, the most challenging part of this level. First of all, I remained the only one at my secondary school participating in the DofE programme, which meant that I had to find a group to join for the 4-day expedition. I found a group at a secondary school in Kranj, a town about a 40-minute drive (by BUS) from the capital where I lived. I went there a day before an exam to meet the team and help with all the preparations, mapping, etc. The first - trial expedition went relatively smoothly - I remember it was hot and nice weather, the teammates were very pleasant, and I could even sleep outside in a sleeping bag.

Things got more complicated when I wanted to do my final expedition. It was planned for spring 2018, exactly during the week when I had a partial exam in the hardest subject of the whole year at my faculty.

*Yes, I was already in my 1st year of undergraduate studies at that time.

I had only one clear goal in mind. And that was to complete the Gold level of the DofE programme. My will was so strong that I decided to skip that exam and sit for a full exam (learning double the amount of study literature) instead. I cancelled the partial exam and started preparing for the expedition. The team I was supposed to join counted five members, which is more than enough for a successful expedition. One participant cancelled a week before the date, but luckily there were still four of us. A day before the expedition, two more participants cancelled, and the expedition was postponed. I remember that I had already packed everything; I had ordered a taxi for 4 am to take me to the central train station... You can imagine how frustrating that was for me - I was at home, but I couldn't study all the literature for the exam in three days, nor could I register for the exam because I missed the registration deadline.

I waited patiently until the fall semester when the organisers said the next expedition would be. Because I didn't hear from them, I wrote them a message, and they said they forgot to put me on the mailing list. However, I got word that the expedition was scheduled for a week when I didn't have faculty exams, which was a relief. A week or so before the expedition, the organisers cancelled it again. I waited until November 2018, when I finally got a message that the expedition would happen. This time it finally happened, and everything went well. The route was beautiful, but it was cold - on nights, it was 0°C outside, and I remember wearing eight layers of clothing to keep me warm at night.

To be truly honest, after the first day, I was extremely exhausted - especially mentally, and was very close to giving up. I remember calling my family and crying (which never happens). They understood my frustration and told me that it is okay after everything I went through if I quit. Too much is too much… Somehow, I managed to put myself back together and went to "sleep" (=7 hours of freezing). The next day I woke up determined to reach the final destination. I had only three more days left!

Because the following week was exam week, I had a head torch with me as we sat around the fire - others chatted and sang, and I...well...studied for the two exams coming up. Nothing could stop me from finishing the expedition.

*End of the 2nd day. Left: the fire, right: extracts from the exam material. DofE Expedition x Studying.

And I did it!

That was one of the best feelings in my life! To this day, I am immensely proud of myself for being so incredibly persistent.

Finishing all those activities didn't mean the end - I had to get official signs from my supervisors. Some of them were from secondary school Kranj. I somehow managed to find a professor from that secondary school who lived in my town and even visited her at home - just for that one paragraph and her sign.

AND THEN I MADE IT.

The only thing I'm still waiting for (since September 2019) is the official DofE ceremony for all Gold Award winners.

But that's okay - because I've already gotten the official certificate.

It's not just a paper - it's 5 years of my relentless pursuit to achieve all my goals, hidden in a lightweight A4 paper. It's proof that my inner strength is limitless, and my possibilities in life are countless. And with that spirit, I keep on going - challenging myself with every step I take.

Here I would also like to thank all people who stood by my side, supported me and helped me on the way to the Gold DofE Award. All instructors, assessors, supervisors, mentors, leaders, and organisers - I appreciate you a lot!

• Alenka