Training in Watford was nothing like I expected. I was there for longer, the connections that I made were deeper, I worked a lot harder than ever before and grew further.
Training at the Academy will test you! It wouldn’t be world-renowned training if it wasn’t hard.
It consists of long days, stressful situations and a lot of reading, but also a lot of laughter and proud moments. Whilst at the Academy, every day is an assessment to determine which ship you will be best suited to. The lecturers will push you, but if they can see you are doing your best you won’t get much shit.
The YMCA will open your eyes to what it is like living on a ship. You are in each others business all the time and whilst this can sometimes be frustrating, it means you get to know people a lot faster than usual so in a very short space of time, you can make friends for life. When I first arrived at the YMCA I thought it was something out of a nightmare, but looking back on it now, it holds some very fond memories and I would happily re-live my YMCA experience.
Steiner training will push you to your breaking point and if you don’t think of quitting at least twice then you’ve got it easy, but as one of my favourite quotes states “Nothing great ever came from comfort zones”.