How did you find out about ATE?
During my Duke of Edinburgh award I was searching for options to complete the residential section. A local volunteering centre suggested I contact ATE to go on its training course and I haven’t looked back since! I trained as a monitor in 2009 and have worked on a number of very special Superweeks. I’ve made lifelong friends and awesome memories. I was very lucky to stumble across ATE; I’ve had so many amazing experiences with it, both on Superweeks and further afield!
What do you do in the ‘real’ world?
In the real world I work in London for a technology consultancy. I am a rare exception to most of the ATE volunteers who work in the youth or charity sector, although I would argue that my experiences from Superweeks are just as useful in my city job as they are in the classroom.
One thing you can’t stand?
I cannot stand it when people stand in doorways or at the bottom of escalators. Creates very unnecessary traffic and has the tendency to make me rather grumpy.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
My spare time is generally split between outdoor pursuits and computer programming/website design. Outdoor pursuits include walking and cycling, or a bit of climbing if I can fit it in. I’ve been known to dabble in more serious sports like rugby and football however with those seasons over, I’ve found myself out and about more. I haven’t lived in London for very long, so there is still plenty of exploring to do! In almost complete opposition to those activities, I’ve recently been teaching myself to write/build websites which pretty much exemplifies my geeky nature. To counteract this, I have a very steadfast rule that coding isn’t allowed when the sun is up, otherwise I run the risk of spending all my time indoors, like some supergeek you see in films. I wrote a post about ATE and technology on my new website, so if you fancy a read and seeing my attempts at learning the web, check it out here
Do you have any hidden talents?
I’m not sure I have any hidden talents, although I am pretty good at learning names. On Superweeks, I like to challenge myself to see how long it takes me to learn the names of the whole holiday without any mistakes. My record so far is 1 day, although I’m hoping to improve on this.
Thanks for reading!
Rob