What did you do before joining Rockley’s Leap course?
I did Surf Life Saving for about a year and then when I left school I thought I’d do a Gap Year before going to Uni. I went to Thailand and worked at a surf and wakeboard resort based on a reservoir which my uncle owned. It was another side of life completely away from the office work and I thought yeah this is for me, it’s got to be sport. My Uncle taught me to surf, wakeboard and things like that and I knew I was going to do something water based. Like the more I did it, the more I enjoyed it. All my family are sporty - footballers, sailors, golfers so it was going to happen anyway.
You studied at university for a bit but that didn’t work out. Why?
So, I went to UCFB in Wembley to study sport psychology as I really liked the idea of helping people with their performance but I quickly realised that the job would be a lot more office based than I wanted. I really wanted something more practical.
How did you discover Rockley’s Leap course?
I was chatting to my cousin about how I wasn’t really liking Uni and she said she had been to a careers fair and Rockley happened to be there. She suggested that I contact all these places that offer outdoor watersports courses and qualifications and I was like yeah yeah yeah. When I finally got online one day to do some research, I discovered that the more I looked in to it the more I liked what I saw.
Was Rockley your first choice?
I did check out some other companies like Neilson but they were just too expensive even though they were offering the exact same thing. The Rockley course sounded amazing and the video from the 2018 course made it look so much fun!
You came down to visit Rockley before the course. What were your thoughts?
I came down and had a meeting with Kate (Murphy) and I was completely sold! She showed me round and talked to me about everything and even though it was a really miserable day I was like yeah, this is for me. I knew instantly that this was for me.
Is the course what you had imagined?
I love all the water stuff. I don’t really know what I had imagined. I didn’t realise it was going to be so intense but I like the fact that we dive in head first. I had never done any sailing before – I’ve only ever kite surfed but I’ve learned that here they don’t like kitesurfing – it’s windsurfing or nothing so I’m like OK.
Have there been any challenging or bad days?
For me, there really hasn’t been. I’ve enjoyed it too much to have any bad days, I just absolutely love it. I mean if you make a mistake then that’s just another thing to learn and even on those more challenging days you end up learning more than you think you have!
Because it’s such an intense course you really need to keep on top of things but you surprise yourself with how you manage to pick things up. I’ve even started to like capsizing now, just for fun!
What are your plans for the future?
I want an outside life and for me, this is the start. I’d love to stay at Rockley Point over the summer and maybe try and gain further qualifications. I love all the instructors and the fact that the conditions are so different – I like to be challenged. It’s like yesterday when we were out it was really sunny, then it rained and then the wind really picked up and then the wind dropped and the sun came out and then there was hail – we didn’t know what was going on. We were just waiting for a tropical storm!
It sounds like you’re all getting on really well
We really are and if there is anyone who is struggling on a particular day we just lift each other up and reassure each other because I believe everyone can sail. When you panic you just forget the basics so it’s just calming each other down and get back to the basics.
You literally haven’t stopped smiling since we’ve been talking. Is it safe to say you are enjoying yourself?
It’s seriously the best thing I’ve ever done!
Megan already sounds like she’s got the makings of a great instructor. We’ll catch up with her later on to see if she’s still smiling! For more information about the course please click below: