LIFE AFTER ST. ED’S Phoebe King (OSE)

WHEN DID YOU LEAVE ST. EDMUND’S?

I left St. Edmunds’s in 2020... Class of Covid! I went to Sixth Form at The Howard of Effingham and studied Maths, DT (Product Design) and Chemistry.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN JOINING THE NAVY?

Quite soon after joining St. Edmund’s in Form 7, there was a talk about the armed forces and Mrs Drummond told us about her experiences in the Royal Navy. It sounded so exciting! As I got closer to my GCSE years I felt that I wanted to join the Navy after A-Levels and train there rather than go to university. I looked into the options and the role of Warfare Officer gave me the opportunity to do this as well as having further career progression to higher ranks.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRAINING AND YOUR FUTURE CAREER PLANS

I am training at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth as an Officer Cadet. In our intake of 120, 17 of us are women. The average age is 23, many having already been to university or starting a second career, and I’m the youngest one at 18. We have two terms of training in Dartmouth, firstly Militarisation (learning to be a member of the Military rather than a civilian) and secondly Marinisation (learning specific to the Navy rather than the other forces). I should be ‘passing out’ in December as a Midshipman which is (the first rank of a Commissioned Officer). After Christmas I have Common Fleet Time which is a posting on a ship (could be anywhere!) and then back to Dartmouth next May for 15 weeks as a Sub Lieutenant. This will be specialised Initial Warfare Officer Training. I will then have various courses at Collingwood - aviation warfare, navigation, surface warfare etc. The days can be very long and usually any ‘free’ time is taking up with ironing all our kit but I’ve met some great friends already and I am loving ‘navy life’.

As a Warfare Officer I will eventually be running the bridge of a ship, making strategic decisions and ultimately could even be captaining my own ship (although that’s quite a few years off yet!!)

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST MEMORIES OF ST. EDMUND’S AND HOW DID THEY HELP YOU DECIDE ON YOUR FUTURE CAREER?

I especially remember the fun things like the Form 7 Camp Night, French trip, Letton Hall, Great Escape Nights, D of E, making dens in the woods and the sporting opportunities. All things that help give independence, allow you to show initiative and build confidence. I also remember the people - true friends I made that I still keep in touch with.

I’ve learnt from my experience so far that it’s worth persevering for something if you really want it - the assumed path for me would have been to go to University, but I felt I was doing the right thing for me, and I stuck with it even when the application process seemed to be taking so long and my friends had all started their new lives away from home.

My mum, dad and brother have just been to visit me for Families Weekend - it was great to see them and to be able to show them where I am, what I’ve been doing and for them to meet my roommates. I think they were pretty impressed with how much we have all learnt in just a few weeks, not to mention my incredibly tidy wardrobe and room!