Cumbria student Hannah Grimes blogs about her experiences on the Sutton Trust summer school at Durham.

Sunday arrived and I was packed and ready for the week ahead. On arrival the nerves were kicking in and I was directed to my room. After settling into my room everyone congregated in the dining hall to meet our mentor and other members of what was soon to be team DUCK! The fun began with lot of noise, cheers and laughter making me feel welcome and excited for the week.

Monday morning arrived and after a hearty breakfast everyone was raring to go. A short walk to the Geography building lead us to a modern building with the rustic library opposite. Geography was a whirlwind of learning, field work and tours of the city. Sitting in a field to collect an array of data to see if we could prove our hypothesis was amazing fun. Getting to know everyone better and chatting (whilst collecting our results) was great. Finishing the academic week with a presentation and reporting back on our findings was a brilliant way to end the week of learning.

A mentor group challenge to find the most interesting things around the city lead us into a wedding reception in the Castle and getting to explore the rustic College located there. The Cathedral and Palace Green were beautiful too! From seeing the locations of Harry Potter movies to the small market place gave us an idea of how unique and stunning the city is.

After dinner the evening activities began. They ranged from real life Quidditch to dragon boat racing and arts and crafts. Quidditch was a great Harry Potter experience with lots of laughs, a real cape and a blow up broom (it’s not as easy as it looks!) Dragon boat racing was new to me too. Team work and cooperation meant the boat actually moved and we raced with one of the instructors. As I recall we won, but not without getting very wet.

After our evening activities we met up with our mentor groups and did some more activities, building towers out of pasta, drawing on t-shirts and playing one big game of “zimmy zimmy” (Oh, and not to forget the best hot chocolate and biscuits for bunking!). It was a perfect way to end a jam packed day.

Concluding the week with an evening formal and graduation was a great way to spend my final few hours with some amazing friends. I tried new things, met new people, got an insight into university life, all of which was because of the Sutton Trust. The best week ever!

Hannah Grimes is a student at Barrow in Furness Sixth Form College.

To find out more about Sutton Trust Summer Schools click here.

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