Caroline
Hi everyone! I’m the written documenter for GOLD team Aruba this year! Basically, this means keeping you up to date with what we have been getting up to – but don’t worry, I’ll make sure you hear from the others too, so the sound of my voice won’t send you to sleep ;)
So, who am I? A question I’m not sure even I can answer, but within Girlguiding I currently split my activities between two regions: in Anglia, with Cambridgeshire East, I have been a member of the Cambridge University Scout and Guide Club since 2011, where I’ve held various committee positions throughout the years and have enjoyed both running and participating in a rather eccentric programme of activities, varying from organising a dinner which the chief guide attended, to punt jousting – maybe best not to ask about that one! At points during my time in Anglia I helped open and run a Rainbow unit and did my Gold Duke of Edinburgh “alternative” expedition – the experiences of which taught me a lot about travelling with a wheelchair!
In LaSER (London and South East Region) I am still attached to my own Brownie unit where I first made my Girlguiding promise at seven years old. Having just turned 26, my Brownies and I have decided that I should “graduate” from my young leader name (Rabbit) to my leader name (Wheely Owl) – it’s taking some getting used to, I still answer to “Hi Rabbit” in meetings, supermarkets and other odd places I come across my girls! I’m the only person in our unit with a “going away with” license and am planning a 4-night pack holiday with a theme of Harry Potter later this year – I’m starting the extra sleep now!
Internationally in Girlguiding I have been to both the Canada World Scout MOOT in 2013 and the Iceland World Scout MOOT in 2017 which increased my interest and enthusiasm. Travelling abroad alone in a wheelchair is not an option (if I’m travelling by air), highly inadvisable (by any other form of transport) and thoroughly boring (if you’re a social bunny like me) so the opportunity to travel within Girlguiding is a unique one for me that allows me the freedom to continue to feed the travel bug that I’ve got and to allow me to be a part of the international community.
In my “other” life, I was a medical student a little while ago and have a degree in Natural Sciences. Since achieving that I have also taken courses in calligraphy and watercolour painting – definitely more challenging than medical school as far as I’m concerned. I play the French Horn, love singing, am getting back into dancing (how many times has tap dancing come up on bios of our team this year?), love spending time with my friends and family and going on adventures, however big or small.
My GOLD story started back in 2012 and I was SO excited to be picked to go to Aruba this year – although not as excited as I was when we all got to know each other at our 1st briefing weekend. I am really interested to see where our project leads us. The 2016 and 2017 teams have done a brilliant job in setting up various aspects of the GOLD journey in Aruba and I’m sure they have left an expectation of high standards behind them! I can’t wait to hear more from Aruba about what they want and am really looking forward to working with and learning from them. I think it will really boost my own confidence too, my Brownies will be talking and doing all things “Aruba” for ages after I come back, and I am hoping to use my Aruban experiences to help me become a Trainer here in the UK.
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