In 2022, I was part of a group of 30 students who were fortunate enough to partake in one of the many trips the college has to offer when we jetted off to Malta for an unforgettable 14-day experience! I still look back on those many memories I made over that fortnight fondly, and as I find myself back at Wilberforce currently on a work experience placement within the college Marketing Department whilst studying for my degree in Media Communication, I’m delighted to reminisce about some of my favourite memories from that jam-packed trip!

Getting the chance to get to know new faces and meet people due to the trip including students from a wide range of courses across the college was certainly a plus point. As a result of this I made friends I would’ve otherwise never met, and many of those friendships remain strong to this day.

I was lucky enough to have the chance to scuba dive, something which I’d never done before but always wanted to do and the experience is something I’ll never forget. The feeling of being able to breathe underwater felt so surreal and seeing the various sea creatures and plants up close with my own eyes was really beautiful. We spent the rest of that day on a boat trip visiting different attractions around the island such as The Blue Lagoon. As we had our own private boat, it made the trip feel more comfortable and enjoyable with every location we stopped at quickly turning into an opportunity to dive off the boat into the ocean! I fondly remember on one occasion, the group swam into a cove to sing a Wilberforce chant and spread a bit of East Hull pride to the Mediterranean… before returning to our boat to see it surrounded by jellyfish!

As well as exploring the idyllic islands such as Gozo, we also visited mainland Malta which is much more urbanized and allowed us to become immersed within the Maltese culture. From enjoying breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our hotel to touring football stadiums and zip-lining over the sea, we truly got to take part in a diverse range of activities during the trip as well as work experiences and the ability to learn about a whole different part of the world. Having something significant to be involved with everyday is a rare opportunity to have and I look back on the trip with gratitude as it was such a positive part of the latter end of my A level journey and time at Wilberforce.

Collectively we did not want the trip to end, not only because that meant leaving the sunshine of Malta behind, but also the thought of not being with each other every day after the new bonds we had made! It was genuinely a life changing  experience for not only myself, but for the whole group as each individual was impacted by unlocking skills and traits they didn’t realise they had and conquering fears making each of us return home with a different perspective than before.