Doing his DofE Award taught Mihir more than guitar skills

For Mihir, doing his DofE provided an escape from the pressures of schoolwork, but found he learned lots of life skills along the way.

He decided to learn to play the guitar for his Skills section and played at several school performances having never played in front of an audience before – something he found to be a nerve-racking yet exciting experience.

But as Mihir, from Northampton, progressed through his Silver Award, he found that his mentality began to change for the better.

Mihir, 16, said: “The DofE Award has shown me, my friends, and all young people that having the right mindset prepares you for any challenge or problem that life can throw. My skills section enabled me to face the barrier of playing an instrument in front of a live audience – I’m now able to do this whenever I want, and I feel much more comfortable doing so.”

Mihir was new to Quinton House School, where he was doing his DofE, and says he mainly joined in as a way to build connections with his peers.

“I thought that achieving this award would be easy, but I soon realised that completing the sections with 110% effort would require resilience, hard work, and patience. DofE has inspired me to always maintain a mindset that I’m proud of. I found it difficult to commit to the sections and time frames at first, but after I started, I began to enjoy the DofE journey a lot more. The physical section was one of the hardest sections for me; I’d never been interested in long-distance running before, but I felt proud to accomplish the goal of sticking with the task for my time frame.”

“Before the expedition, I wasn’t expecting much to occur but the challenges we faced and the solutions we came up with as a team has left us all with lifelong mates. I’m very grateful for it. There have been times when sections seemed daunting, but it was rewarding to complete them and I’m happy that I made the most of the opportunities I was given.”