Alan Healy
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Alan Healy - Loch Eil, Scottish Highlands, 2011

Age seventeen, Course date: 30/05/11 - 03/06/11

When our group was on our way to Scotland I was thinking to myself "the weather is going to be terrible and miserable, always raining and very cold and windy" and while we were driving up the mountains towards the centre it was. This did not detract me and others from the spectacular view though, it was astounding looking at the mountains, seeing how the stream flows from the mountains to the ground, everyone was taking pictures. This was a completely and utterly different view from the ones you get back here in scruffy old London.

When we got to the centre we were introduced to our clan (MacArthur) leader, Rich. We did some warm up activities that would eventually help us during our hike up near Glen Nevis. All the activities were great such as Jacob's ladder (which I am still annoyed at because I was not able to reach the last ladder part because of the weather) and also the actual hiking as this actually proved to myself that I can push my limits further and not give up easily. Unfortunately though, the weather when we were camping was atrocious. The inner tent was wet (due to someone leaving the tent open), this led to the sleeping bags becoming slightly wet too which made it very uncomfortable during the night.

What I have also enjoyed on this trip is to get to know some of my classmates better and learn how to co-operate with them, working alongside them in a team and also getting to know what makes an effective and efficient team. Rich played a big part in this and made sure everyone was contributing to the team by making us decide who should take what roles for that day.

This has been a life-changing experience and I will never forget this experience and will treasure these memories I have about this past five days. It was also nice making new friends. I would like to say thanks to my teachers that were with us and to the staff at the centre, especially to Rich who made the whole experience more fun and challenging (especially with the death sauce). And to leave on a high, the sun actually came out, glaring down on us as it was like saying goodbye.
Thank you Outward Bound

Alan Healy