Today I am a very proud Scottish island mum. Molly has been offered a place at Nottingham Trent university on their MSc in Conservation and the recovery of endangered species. This is a very big deal and we could not be more pleased. It is the only course like it in the world and it works with the Durrell international conservation centre in Jersey. The focus of the course uses the study of genetics to pull species back from the brink of extinction. The university doesn't take many students so Molly has done so well to be offered a place and we are all over the moon. She aimed incredibly high and we all held her breath so now we can all start breathing again.
Molly is completely fearless. Her self belief is what has led to this coupled with her determination that she will make a difference to animal species across the globe. On top of these well grounded attitudes she works so hard to make things happen. When she left school at 13 to try home schooling with her brothers she informed us that she was rubbish at science. She knew this because her teacher had told her that science wasn't really her subject. So to win a place on an internationally recognised science masters speaks volumes about her own levels of determination. I have never known Molly to quit at anything but she combines that approach with a belief that the 'early bird does, indeed, catch the worm.' She had secured a summer programme of professional experience before most students had even began thinking about it.
Of course, it is just these attitudes that she will need if she is to make a difference. The work that she is most interested in requires commitment and determination that knows no boundaries. The animals can't speak to us so Molly is putting herself firmly between us and them and she will do their talking for them. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Molly so it is perhaps best if we listen....
She is a good communicator and already keeps a blog of her professional experiences which is well worth a read. The purpose of her blog is to tell conservation issues through story telling and I think this is a worthy approach that may lead her somewhere in the future. So, we are proud that she has a masters place on such an important course but we are also proud that she continues to learn the necessary knowledge and skills to make a real difference. We now have to figure out how to fund this opportunity but that is the easy bit and I have no doubt that will fall into place as well. Something tells me that there is no stopping this girl.
I had just finished home school when Molly called with the news and I am not totally sure what I have done with the rest of the day and it is dark now. The days are suddenly so short and so cold but I am glad that all the willow coppicing is behind us. All the wreath bases are also made and now the work begins to decorate some of them. I am still waiting for supplies to arrive by post but I will have to use my evenings to catch up. Serves me right for getting over excited.
We are so pleased with the early response to our Buds and Blooms venture and we starting to get together a development time line to ensure we are ready for next year. There is a lot of raised beds to be constructed and I am thinking hazel! Our hazel needs some serious reconstructing if it is to be a more productive crop to accompany the willow so it seems a good time to coppice quite hard so that we can make hazel hurdles for the raised beds. I see a little family day of coppicing coming on. There are so many brambles to clear in the area that I want to extend the willow into that I may disappear for quite a few weeks only coming up for air occasionally. I have my seed order in pretty good shape for next year and I also managed to harvest quite a lot of seeds at the end of this season so I can turn my attention to the new perennials I want to introduce. Life is never dull.
I want to end today by sharing a video that was posted on the true activist facebook page. I often refer to Molly as fearless and I can see the boys heading in the same direction. This video made me ponder how that attitude has taken hold of our children. Their growing self belief is so refreshing because I know many people in the world that struggle with that. Confidence can be a very fragile thing and easily damaged. For us school was doing more to damage their confidence than anything else and that is what led us to home schooling. This video gives us all lots to ponder over.....just click on the link.
Until tomorrow.
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