Friday 19th July 2019
I slowly made my way up the stairs on Monday morning, swallowing my anxiety and hiding my shaking hands behind my back. I persuaded myself that it was only a week and at the end I could step straight back into my comfort zone. Despite my mental preparation, I was far from prepared for what came next. I finally pushed open the door to the office and was immediately showered with welcoming, friendly greetings and amiable smiles- calming my apprehension with surprising ease.
I knew that this was a charity that I was walking into, but I hadn’t quite comprehended that the whole organisation relied on donations alone and that, without the pure kindness of local people and hard work and contributions of the team and volunteers, the Air Ambulance wouldn’t be able to operate and save lives as it does every day. I felt humbled by this. To work with an organisation that does so much good and gives back to the people who support it was honestly such an enriching experience, and by the end of the week I didn’t want to leave. I will no doubt be coming back to visit.
Something else that surprised me was the efficiency of the team and how each department influences another: operating together to function perfectly as a team like the organs of a body, constantly being maintained and repaired but all working tirelessly towards the common goal of helping people who are probably going through the worst point in their life. I met some of the volunteers and they were all polite and pleasant to be around, with different stories and interesting things to talk about.
I never thought I could be so confident, but after this week I am no longer afraid to leave the amenities of school and the education system. Quite the contrary, I am excited to see what life presents to me because the most important thing I have learnt, the thing that resonates with me the most, is that growing up doesn’t mean getting a dismal office job and working until you’re dead. It means contributing to a cause, having fun, making mistakes and meeting new people, because they are the ones who make life what it is, and that matters.
Amy Thuilliez- 15, The Henry Beaufort School
