Another inspiring morning today, this time with Arran Goddard who came and talked to us about his experience in Polar Academy. Arran had a difficult school life, he has dyslexia so was written off by a lot of people who said he would never achieve anything. He is also a dancer (a very good one too) but because he didn’t fit in with other boys and was the only male dancer in his dance school for 4 years, he suffered from a lot of negative experiences. He was bullied badly in school, he had few friends and lacked a lot of confidence.
He was given the opportunity to apply to Polar Academy when he was 16 and experience life in the Arctic for 16 days. There are only 20 people selected and he was originally in the Leadership team which was almost like reserves but because of his work ethic and determination he got to be one of the 16 who went out for the life changing experience. He trained for a full year for this experience and since this his whole life has changed and he has transformed into a confident, determined and inspirational person that he was told he would never be.
At only 19 years of age he has achieved some truly wonderful things. We are very lucky to have had this experience of getting to hear about the wonderful journey he has been on. Arran is now in university in Fort William doing a degree in outdoor leaders, he talks all around the world and is sponsored by Tiso. He is currently undergoing training so he can be a trainer for Polar Academy and give other children the opportunity to experience what he has.
The next 4 part series of Polar Academy is due to start on Monday on BBC 1 at 7:30pm and definitely worth a watch.
Lesson from today- Your mind is the most powerful part of you, believe in yourself and you can achieve anything!
I am feeling so inspired and so motivated after our 2 speakers this week and really hope the children have taken away something from this even if it is something small!
#PolarExplorer
Primary 5R 