This is a picture from my first trip with Queen's. In fact I had joined only that week. I was looking to join in Year 6 but the Headmistress of the Lower School suggested that I join in the last half term of Year 5 as we would be going on a school trip and would be performing in the end of year play, a great opportunity to make friends. I was terrified of going on a trip with complete strangers but everyone was so welcoming and the girls who welcomed me into their dorm room remain some of my closest friends.
This picture was taken in Disneyland Paris! This was the first of many trips abroad with Queen's. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to go to France, Spain, Iceland, Italy, China, Germany, Ireland and Peru with the school. Going on school trips has been a real highlight of my time at Queen's. With each trip not only did I learn lots and make more friends, I increased my confidence massively as I was often speaking in a different language to locals or completely stepping out of my comfort zone.
I never thought that I would like biology as I thought that other subjects came more naturally to me. But visits to the zoo, dissections and fun practicals meant that by Year 11 I loved biology so much that I wanted to take it for A-level.
I joined rowing in Year 8 and have loved it ever since. Rowing really boosted my confidence and allowed me to make firm friends with the girls in my crew as we had to constantly rely on each other not just to show up to practice, but also to work our hardest as we were literally pulling each other along.
Rowing really teaches you persistence. Sometimes we were freezing in the early morning, fighting the current and weather but you couldn’t give up as this would only make it harder. I’ll never forget racing at Dorney Lake (the 2012 Olympic rowing venue) and looking up to see the Olympic rings and knowing that we were also being filmed. That was a really special moment. Rowing also helped me to make friends with girls in other years. When you’re younger the older girls would help you get your boat out, hold it for you while you got in and generally check that you’re OK. It's super nice to be able to do that for others later on.
Those doing Mandarin GCSE went to China in the summer of Year 10, and it really improved our confidence and ability to speak Mandarin. I remember we had a cultural visit to Beijing, exploring sights such as the Great Wall whilst also visiting the province of Jinan to have Chinese lessons at Shangdong University.
What I loved most about the trip was how friendly the locals were. They were keen to help us with our speaking and went out of their way to make us happy, such as bringing us something to sit on while we waited for a bus and making us feel extra special by lining up to take photos with us. I remember our teacher remarking on how much we had improved when we came back, and I don’t think our class would have done so well had it not been for this trip.
This picture was taken in Peru, my absolute favourite moment of being at Queen's. During our time in Peru, we volunteered in several different locations and completed a 5 day trek to Machu Picchu. I remember that as a group, we started out not really knowing each other, but became essentially siblings after a month. What I liked the most was how well we all looked after each other, for example, I got really sick at the end of the trip yet two older girls who I didn’t really know at the beginning stayed up during the night to keep making sure I was OK. Even after our trip to Peru, all the girls still kept an eye on each other at school.
I’m so excited to study history at King's College London.
Alexandra McDonald