Student profile
Danny Phung
Arts & Engineering student
Program: The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Why did you get involved in the The Duke of Edinburgh's Award?
I have always held many interests outside of my academic pursuits and had enrolled in all kinds of short courses, and dabbled in various languages. When I found out about The Duke of Edinburgh's Award I realised that it would be great way to gain some sort of recognition for all the things I was already doing.
What are you doing for the different sections of the Award?
Physical recreation: Krav Maga, Israeli martial art
Skill: Learn how to play the piano to an intermediate level
Service: I havent thought that far ahead yet!
Adventurous journey: Exchange to France
Residential project:Tutoring in Argentina
What do you think you have learnt from this experience so far?
Although I have always like doing things when I felt like doing them, I found that the Award gave me a structure and routine to work with. This meant that I was more consistent in my efforts, and that my results were more consistent. It was a lot easier to keep at something once I had a designated time for it during the week.
Describe any challenges you encountered and how you dealt with them.
The technical aspects like organizing and planning activities were actually the easiest, it's deciding what to do that's most difficult! I had a hard time choosing between Spanish, Piano, Carpentry, Krav Maga, Salsa, Parkour, Soccer, Archery... but in the end I had to take into consideration what was most convenient and achievable given my other commitments.
Describe the highlight of your Duke of Edinburgh's Award experience to date.
Accidentally punching my mate in the head repeatedly at Krav Maga training!