One of the many beauties about Faulkner’s is the ability to try absolutely everything there is on offer and that is exactly what I did. It is only when I look back upon it now that I realise how special the first year at Bradfield is. To me, Faulkner’s is like the kid’s pool at a hotel on holiday; you still get to appreciate the beautiful location you’re in, but in the safety of the shallow pool, most likely with a pair of brightly coloured arm bands to help keep you afloat and a few extra lifeguards looking out for you whilst you’re still learning to swim and have fun. All before you’re brave enough to progress to the big pool. I am so grateful for Faulkner’s, not just for the taste it gave me of Bradfield life, but also for the friendships it enabled me to create, the majority which I still hold now, and I can truly say that I have made friends for life.
Whilst academic life has always been important to me, it has been outside the classroom where I have truly flourished. Launching myself whole-heartedly into co-curricular life, I have run from opportunity to opportunity, becoming what my Housemistress once described as a “whirling dervish”. Chapel Choir, Gospel Choir, Bradfield Voices, LAMDA lessons, Ball planning committees, ABC to Read, Young Leaders Programme, Diadati society, E-Safety committee, Psychology Society, College forums, House forums, Pastoral forums, Greek plays, concerts, netball, hockey, swimming, dance, tennis, squash, fives, editing the Bradfieldian magazine, starting a pupil-led magazine, debating, music and instrumental competitions and surprisingly, there are still more things on offer that I could have got involved with but haven’t listed.
What I am most grateful for, beyond all the phenomenal opportunities, is the support I have received. My time at Bradfield has not always been plain sailing and my journey has not taken the orthodox route. Bradfield, however, has never once doubted me and my ability to still reach the final destination and has done everything in its power to help me through.
The pastoral care is like no other. Staff will go above and beyond to look after you, help you and guide you. Specifically, the House team, who care so deeply about you not just as a pupil, but as a person, and will stop at nothing to make sure you know that, without whom I wouldn’t be the person I am today. It is hard to quantify just how much impact acts of kindness and generosity, large or small, can have on pupils, and the teachers do just that, day in, day out. I will forever be grateful to them.
As I prepare to embark on the next chapter of my story I would be lying if I said I was feeling ready to leave. Then again, how could I ever be ready to leave a place like Bradfield? A place where you are supported and encouraged in whatever you are aspiring to do or be, where you are accepted for who you are and where you are given opportunities most would only dream of. Bradfield has given me an education for life, it has taught me Pythagoras’ theorem, how to write a critical evaluation of a novel and that speed = distance over time (if any of my GCSE teachers are reading this, I hope that you’re impressed I’ve remembered these things). Yet, it has also taught me so much more. Bradfield has taught me to dream big and do big, that I am capable of so much more than I think, that hard work and dedication really does pay off, that we are all deserving of support and opportunities, regardless of who we are, that aspirations are achievable, but most importantly that I really can do anything I put my mind to.
I know Bradfield will continue to nurture, inspire and encourage its pupils to flourish here like nowhere else. I could not have imagined spending the last five years learning and growing in a more incredible place.
