Issue 5 - April 2011 - Ampleforth College

34
AMPLEFORTH SCHOLARS
Mat Beckwith (D)
During the entire month of July I had the privilege of working
as an intern for a world-renowned elephant conservation
group Save The Elephants.
I was based at their main research camp in a remote nature
reserve on the Kenyan savannah. The goal of Save the
Elephants is to secure a sustainable future for elephants and
their habitat, by promoting a tolerant relationship between
elephant and man. The group normally takes interns from
Universities, so I was very happy to be given the position.
The reasons why the experience was so special for me are
twofold. Firstly, I was able to contribute in a meaningful way to
an important cause; elephant numbers in East Africa have been
in rapid decline since the 1980’s, almost exclusively due to
poaching, fuelled by high demand for ivory in Asia. I contributed
to the efforts of the group by assisting in surveys of all the
animals present in the local nature reserve, in order to establish
the general health of the ecosystem. This meant I got to drive
vehicles around the reserve, observing and recording the size
and frequency of elephant families I encountered.
Secondly, the remote and unfamiliar setting of the camp, and its
basic facilities posed a lot of unique challenges, such as how
best to wade across a crocodile infested river at night, how to
make a tent “snake-proof,” or how to exit a room in a hurry if
you find a seven foot long spitting cobra coming through the
door (dive out a window!).
Overall, my experiences in Africa were life shaping, and fuelled
my desire to become a biologist. I would love to return to
Kenya in a few years time to pursue my own research project.
Mat has a provisional place to read Biological Sciences at
Magdalen College, Oxford.
Bella Brown (B)
My Basil Hume Scholarship is in art and sport. I have felt very
privileged being awarded a Basil Hume Scholarship.
I have participated in many school teams such as the 2nd netball
team, the 2nd hockey team, cross country team, the athletics
team and many house competitions. Outside of school I play
district netball and have trained with the junior British Event
team for horse riding. Being involved with all these different
sports has been a thorough enjoyment and has been great to
be able to be in a team with others and gain close friends. In the
Art department I have managed to produce a variety of work,
which has been displayed in many school exhibitions and also
achieved high results in examinations. I thoroughly enjoy my
Art at the school with great help from my teacher, Mr Bird,
who gives me confidence and advice. I have also been involved
in many theatre productions such as Love Labours Lost and The
Alchemist, which have been a fantastic experience and a great
way of meeting others in the school. I am also currently
completing my Duke of Edinburgh award. Achieving a Basil
Hume Scholarship at Ampleforth helped me gain confidence
in myself and therefore achieve to my full ability and apply my
full potential to the school.