Seventeen year old Ema Blanka Brychtová in DofE after completing the bronze level immediately headed to the gold level. She received her bronze badge and certificate at a ceremony in Hradec Králové in February. This was with 100 other young people from across the region.
Ema joined the DofE at her secondary school, the Business Academy, the Secondary Vocational School and the Language School with the right to take the state language exam in Hradec Králové. At bronze level, she chose to walk twenty kilometres a day as her goal in the movement.
"Thanks to the DofE I definitely have the motivation to do my chosen activity. For example, with walking - now instead of taking the bus, I take a walk," says the young girl. In Skills, she learned to play three popular songs on the guitar and volunteered as a Czech tutor at the Diocesan Charity.
She learned the most about herself through the DofE, especially on the expedition. "I found out that I'm not as big an introvert as I thought I was. I was terrified of going on a trip with girls I'd never met and who we quite possibly had nothing in common with. But the opposite was true, I didn't stop talking the whole expedition," she recalls of the expedition to the surroundings of Adršpach Rocks.
Development in areas that are not the focus of conventional teaching
Her leader, Heda Lambert, went with her. "We saw it as a great opportunity to give our pupils the opportunity to develop in areas that aren't the focus of mainstream teaching and to support them to grow in an all-round way. We liked that the programme not only helps young people to work on themselves, but also encourages them to think of others and try to improve the world around them through volunteering," she explains.
What she appreciates about the DofE is the opportunity to get to know the pupils outside the classroom. "At the same time, being on the programme allows me to work with other leaders, share experiences and inspire each other. And of course there's the planning and execution of the expeditions - it's a big responsibility but great fun at the same time. The time spent in nature also gives me energy for my regular teaching job," she adds. He counts a golden expedition to Mallorca or meeting Prince Edward among his unforgettable experiences.
