Rebecca On The Wing

Category: Education

  • Inspired by a Blowfish

    Inspired by a Blowfish

    Last weekend I stayed with my grandmother at her lovely house in Frome, Somerset. I love my mini holidays there; my bedroom window overlooks a meandering river, and on the other side is a bustling market and a glimpse of the library through the overhanging trees. I was particularly excited on Saturday morning to discover…

  • Learning to Dive – Part Two

    Learning to Dive – Part Two

    On the second day of Open Water weekend (read about Day One here), I awoke to the alarm feeling a lot more confident. We were halfway through, with two dives down and two to go. The weather had deteriorated slightly and as I waited for the morning briefing it began to drizzle, but hopefully that…

  • Learning to Dive – Part One

    Learning to Dive – Part One

    The alarm went off at 6am and my stomach began to churn. Today was the start of Open Water weekend, and if all went well, I would earn my first diving certification. Having struggled with some of the skills in the swimming pool, not to mention the fact I was still getting used to all…

  • A Silent Extinction

    A Silent Extinction

    Giraffe have always been special to me. Even with long, gangly limbs, they move with unhurried poise and confidence, but still look endearing with their huge eyes and long eyelashes. On TV this week there was a repeat of an episode in Attenborough’s Natural World series: Africa’s Gentle Giants. The story centred on Dr Julian…

  • More to See, More to Zoo

    More to See, More to Zoo

    Last week I visited Jacksonville Zoo, which boasts “more to see, more to zoo”. And it certainly delivered, with a broad range of exhibits including some very special ones that I’d never seen before. A particularly unique exhibit was Wild Florida, a collection of species native to the state. I discovered just how big alligators…

  • Fresh Inspiration

    Fresh Inspiration

    Recently I’ve become a writer who doesn’t write much. I have ideas, many a day, of what to write, but somehow I never get round to making them a reality. I’m blaming this latest case of writer’s block on my new occupation, so I’ve decided to write about that. I have been accepted as a…

  • A Biotope Weekend

    A Biotope Weekend

    Friday The trains to Glasgow and Largs and the ferry to the Isle of Cumbrae were all fine. It was when I boarded the bus to the Millport Field Centre that it dawned on me: what on earth had I let myself in for?! I’d booked onto a weekend course run by the Field Studies…

  • Eleanor Oliphant Is What We Need

    Eleanor Oliphant Is What We Need

    In 2017, 40-year-old author Gail Honeyman entered a story about a lonely and damaged young girl into a writing competition. Now winner of the Costa First Novel Award and scheduled to become Reese Witherspoon’s next film project, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has become a triumph for modern literature. Our heroine, Eleanor, is evidently not…

  • Living off the Scilly Land

    Living off the Scilly Land

    For my final major project at university, I am journeying to the Isles of Scilly for a photography project on this wildly diverse archipelago. My focus is currently the unique wildflowers of the islands, some of which are not found anywhere else in the UK such as the dwarf pansy. However, to broaden my understanding…

  • Learning to Birdlisten

    Learning to Birdlisten

    Today marks the beginning of a new project: learning to birdlisten. It’s a much-used cliché but I have been an avid birdwatcher since I was a child. I’d sit out in the garden, hold as still as I possibly could, and after a while birds would begin to show, hopping out from under bushes and…