Carolines' blog

October 2008

I have spent October getting back into the swing of things after my hectic summer.

The Rangers headed down to the Tewkesbury Mop Fair in the first week of October, a fun fair that visits the town every year. It luckily usually falls on Thursday night, which is definitely an excuse enough for us all to go.

That week also involved the sending off of my UCAS forms, something Im sure other Senior Section members in their last year of college are also trying to complete. Its pretty cool to finally apply to university, but Im going to be taking a gap year so its a little less pressure for me!

Somehow its October, and Im wondering where the year has gone. It seems only yesterday it was the summer holidays.
This summer was amazing. With a friend from the 21st World Scout Jamboree in 2007, I went to another Jamboree in Essex Essex International Jamboree 2008. We both worked on the Staff team, which was an amazing experience Id definitely recommend to any other Senior Section members old enough! The weather was beautiful and we tanned during the day (doing very hard work of course) and danced into the night. I made some great friends from all over the country, some who I saw again at Reading Festival in the last weeks of the summer.

This term marked the beginning of our Ranger groups 10 Year Anniversary, and in our first meeting we agreed this was a fabulous excuse to get hoodies and badges. Since then weve had a card night where some of the newer members also did their initiation of cooking us all clairs in Hanley Castle tradition. One of our Rangers went to the county INTOPS (international selection) weekend and had an amazing time. Were going bowling soon too, and the other week we all went to Big Gig, to watch one of its best line-ups yet. Well, all except me I went to Madrid for five days with the Comenius project, and I sold my ticket to one of the newer girls who desperately wanted to go!

When I returned I soon had to pack for a Duke of Edinburgh training week in the Snowdonia National Park. We spent four days walking in the early snows, chucking plenty of snowballs, before returning to a warm centre each day. In Easter, were camping, so I appreciated the heating while it lasted! I got to know the people Im doing my Gold Award Expedition with in Slovenia next year much better, and it was a week well spent.

When I got home I had two very exciting letters on the table two university offers! Its been a pretty productive month, but with exams approaching in January its back down to work.