We enjoyed spending time together without the distraction of our phones as we managed to get to know each other at a deeper level. Furthermore, we liked walking in nature looking and observing things that we hadn’t seen before. Especially in the last two days, we learned how to cooperate with each other. The funniest part was the first day of the adventure journey when after a long climb we sat in a parking lot and ate pasta from the day before. However, we didn’t really enjoy the weather as it rained a lot the first two days of the training. Overall, we really enjoyed the DofE as it was a great and new experience for us.

Il nostro viaggio, sia come individui che come gruppo, è stato nient’altro che straordinario. E oggi siamo orgogliosi di ciò che abbiamo realizzato, superando ogni singola sfida che abbiamo incontrato sul nostro cammino con coraggio e determinazione. Mantenendo sempre alto il nostro morale anche quando eravamo sotto la pioggia battente o persi nei boschi. (cosa che è successa).

Lavorando con perseveranza e dedizione abbiamo camminato attraverso le spedizioni e ci siamo impegnati con tutto il cuore nel volontariato.

È stato difficile spingerci fuori dalla nostra zona di comfort, ma come sempre, la soddisfazione arriva solo con sforzo e un po’ di sacrificio. Abbiamo anche imparato a gestire la pressione fisica e mentale, che provenisse dalle camminate infinite o dalle piccole discussioni accese all’interno del gruppo, non importava. Ogni problema è stato affrontato come un team unito.

Siamo partiti per questo viaggio come un semplice gruppo di amici, alcuni di noi a malapena conoscevano gli altri, ma abbiamo imparato rapidamente a lavorare insieme come squadra e, soprattutto, ci siamo subito supportati come una famiglia.

Mentre andiamo avanti, continuiamo a portare avanti lo spirito di servizio, avventura e entusiasmo che ha contraddistinto questa straordinaria esperienza per continuare a fare la differenza ovunque andremo.

Good evening everyone, I’m Vittoria Conte and I’d like to speak for all the second ICE which last year attended the Duke of Edinburgh. To start off we would all like to thank Rachel and her wonderful team for this amazing experience that taught us many things.
This journey made us realize that we give everything that we have for granted and the sad thing is that we only understood its value once we found ourselves in the woods for five days. It’s important to admit that in the beginning it was difficult to build the tents, figure out how to work the compass, the food we had to share and the bad weather we had to witness, but no matter the amount of “I can’t do this” or “I don’t want to be here” this trip has truly been unforgettable, not only for the the time we spent there but also for the connections that grew deeper between all of us, which i believe has been fundamental to shape our class the way it is today. It’s also crazy to think that before accomplishing this we thought it would have been impossible to get through these five challenging days, and now instead every once in a while we find ourselves laughing in the hallways about the funny moments and the fears we all shared, which now seem really bizarre in comparison to what we did .
With this experience we all grew as a person and became more thoughtful in every aspect within ourselves also by being able to get out of our comfort zone. To conclude, Thanks to the Duke of Edinburgh we understood much more the meaning of sacrifice, the need of taking risks, and the importance of working as a team.
Thank you very much.