My name is Stanio Azemia and I am a gold award holder. The years spent on the Seychelles Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award as part of my life when growing up, were the most adventurous and joyous
I joined the award program at the age of 13 and truth be told I was not much of a fan at first. However the more time I engaged in the various activities the more I realized how I had changed.
During my induction, I went to camp with 23 other participants of which five of them were from my own school. As part of the program during that weekend we were briefed on how the program works, influences it will build in one’s life which I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that the people I had met in the program would become the best people I will know for my whole life.
Following the induction, I was eager to gain more experiences, hence I kept close contact with the Award Leaders that were going to help us with our development. I completed the first phase of the program earning my bronze award, which further introduced my involvement with a fresh new team that I am honored to call my closest friend. To note they convinced me to me participate in the National Day Event parade for 4 years straight.
Looking back at it the award secretariat besides becoming an adventures enthusiast I have learnt the value of having family outside of blood relations. The program has taught us survival skills from scratch which enabled me to build my pathway to Mauritius to achieve my gold award. It was not easy, but with perseverance and determination as I had to also balance my studies throughout I am proud that I’ve done it.
I am proud of the sense of togetherness, discipline and adventure even now two years after that I have gained, and to date I still keep in touch with other awardees in the program. I was not a strong believer of the program before, but now it would be idiotic to believe that the award is not aspiring. All I can say is be ready amazed and to be transformed when joining the program.
