speakers
Kerry Bennett Dean Close pupils were thrilled to welcome to School, Flight Lieutenant and contestant on the BBC Two series ‘Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?’ - Kerry Bennett. To demonstrate the themes of dream big, work hard and don’t give up when things don’t go to plan, Kerry spoke to parents, staff and pupils about her journey to becoming an RAF Pilot and the challenges she faced on the television series. Kerry explained how she wanted to be a Jet Pilot and after four years of training didn’t make it through the final selection process. Whilst this was a huge disappointment, it meant that she went on to be part of the Royal Squadron, flying VIPs around the world. Some of her passengers have included The Queen, Prince William and actor Daniel Craig. Kerry is best known for her participation in the series ‘Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?’ where she made it to the final three. Kerry explained some of the challenges she faced including learning to fly a helicopter, making thousands of origami birds, learning Russian and the ‘dunker’, a simulator that tests astronauts in an underwater crash situation. Kerry’s favourite task was the zero gravity experience, during which contestants had to assemble an old Polaroid camera. The pupils from Year 9 and 10 were eager to ask Kerry questions, such as “Have you ever had to perform an emergency landing?” and “Were you scared of any of the challenges on the show?” Kerry recalled a situation in
62 - DECANIAN 2017/18
which a buzzard flew into the wing of the aircraft she was piloting and her need to be calm under pressure due to the possibility of engine failure. The calm and collected pilot also told pupils that she was incredibly nervous during the filming of ‘Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?’ and at times she felt intimidated by her fellow contestants. After one particular task she felt she had done so badly that she was surely the next contestant to be eliminated, however; her calm demeanour under pressure and her gracious handling of failure compelled the judges to keep her in the competition. Kerry asked pupils to consider the question “What would you do if you were not afraid?” Kerry said, “There are so many opportunities for young adults today and many different career paths open to them. Whichever route each individual chooses there are bound to be challenges along the way and unexpected bumps and curves in the road. I hope from the experiences I have shared today they will embrace the challenges they face with bravery and positivity. The pupils were a pleasure to talk to and asked some challenging questions, I wish them all well with their adventures.” Throughout the afternoon Kerry demonstrated times in her life, overwhelmed and not good enough and still pushed on to succeed. She still dreams of being an astronaut and is working hard to achieve her goal. We wish her well and very much look forward to following her progress.
Dr Hazel Morrison n Monday the 15th of January, the Fifth and Sixth Form were treated to a special talk in the pavilion from Dr Hazel Morrison. Dr Morrison currently works in the NHS in Bristol. She volunteered to work with Medicins Sans Frontiers. She spent 9 months in South Sudan on a medical relief mission. MSF is a non-governmental organisation, or simply a charity, which focuses on providing medical care in countries where there is poor healthcare or shortages of healthcare. South Sudan was considered as one these countries which has very poor healthcare, therefore Dr Morrison was sent to South Sudan for 9 months to provide her medical proficiencies to help with very low healthcare in South Sudan. In order for her to get to there, she had to get a flight with the UN since there are no commercial flights to Juba, the capital.
O
Dr Morrison told us in the lecture about the work she did within the 9 months. MSF especially targets pregnant women and children, since in South Sudan 1 in 7 women die in pregnancy and 1 in 10 children die before the age of 5. She focused on treating pregnancy and the nutrition of younger children below the age of 5 but would still treat children up to the age 16. This medical base was in Aweil; a small town towards the northern border. There was a hospital but it was not like the conventional hospital one would imagine. Many of the wards were tents