Columba 1400

Hey everyone!

So, for today's blip, there is a bit of an explanation, and I don't mind if you don't read it all;

In August 2011, Me, 11 other pupils and 4 teachers went to a place in The Isle of Skye called Columba 1400. In a nutshell, it was a place to help with leadership, teamwork, confidence building, etc. It was a very secluded place, whihc I guess helped with all the tasks - being away from the cities and towns really helped you relax and focus.

Anyway, a lot of the tasks involved teamwork and leadership. There was hillwalking, search and rescue (Which involved a lot of walking over steep hills), little team games, and at the end of the week, a role playing challenge. You took on the role of someone in the council of a small island (Cnoc Island) And you had to make decisions about how to make money, keeping people happy, stuff like that. At the end of that day, We had to give a presentation to 3 people, including the head teacher of our school. For a shy person like me, it was really daunting, but like the paper says, I stood my ground and did well.

One day was quite emotional. We were split into small groups of 4 and then had to pick random pictures from a big selection to represent the past, present and future. I remember I got sad at one point, because I was talking about home, and Craig was getting bullied at school at that point, so it was difficult. When all the groups came together, there was one girl who was visibly upset. Her mum died when she was little, so I guessed that was why. I took some time out to make sure she was ok, and it was nice to see on this summary of the week that the staff there made, that someone actually noticed me for once.

At the end of the week, we were given certificates, and the staff had made little summaries about us and our week. I really love the last two paragraphs. It warmed my heart to know that someone had taken time out of their day to write about me, and had noticed things like my quiet self-assurance and confidence.

Anyway, sorry for that terribly long description, and I hope I didn't bore you! Like I said at the beginning, I don't mind if you didn't read it.

Have a nice week!

Steven :)