Overcoming Life’s Challenges

By Bethany (she/her). A fun fact about me is that I’ve had my hair every colour! I even had rainbow hair at one point. 

Moving beyond my comfort zone

Hi! I’m Beth, I’m 20 years old. I’m from North Devon but I currently live in Bournemouth where I’m studying BA Makeup for Media and Performance at Arts University Bournemouth. I love all things beauty-related, and I usually have brightly coloured hair. 

Facing difficulties and challenges can help you grow as a person

Without doing NCS I don’t think I would be the person I am today. I decided to go on NCS as I really wanted to give back to my local community via social action, and I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone — and it pushed me to challenge myself. Speaking to new people was incredibly daunting at the time, but it helped me to keep developing those skills. 

How to overcome challenges: take every opportunity

My advice for young people is to take every opportunity you can! If you can speak to new people, do it. If there’s something that’s challenging for you, maybe try to give it a go. If there’s an opportunity to do something silly, take it! It can be overwhelming doing things you feel anxious or scared of, and if you’re going on NCS then there’s absolutely no pressure to do anything you really don’t want to do. But if you give something challenging a go you will feel amazing!   

If you’re going away from home and that’s a big step for you, bring something comforting, like a teddy, as that’ll help you feel more comforted. Also, make sure if there’s anything worrying you — no matter how big or small — talk to a member of the NCS staff as they’ll be happy to help and support you. 

Learning to speak up

For me, I really wanted to share my opinions about the NCS experiences. I’ve been really involved with NCS since I first joined an experience — I did social action projects with a Local Action Group, I’ve been a team leader for two years, and this year I am taking the role of wave leader (which is basically a next-level team leader). I really want to use these experiences and my feedback to help shape parts of NCS. That’s why I’ve recently joined the NCS Youth Advisory Board. I’m passionate about youth voice and this will give me an opportunity to have more involvement with that. 

Standing up for what you believe in 

I’m also representing The Dyspraxia Foundation on the National Neurodiversity Youth Council which is a brand new, first-of-its-kind project set up by The ADHD Foundation. It’s a coalition between The ADHD Foundation, The Dyspraxia Foundation, Dyslexia Scotland, Tourettes Action, The Dyscalculia Network and Autistica who all have representatives on the council aged from 16-24. 

To give a bit of context, a personal challenge for me was being diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia (DCD) at the age of 18. It wasn’t a shock to me when I was diagnosed, and it made many of the struggles I have make sense, but I wish I’d been diagnosed sooner. I missed out on years of self-acceptance and support. For so long, I was angry at myself for not being able to do things how I wanted — and now I know that was due to my dyslexia and dyspraxia. I felt different to my peers, but I didn’t know why until my diagnosis. So I wanted to join the National Neurodiversity Youth Council as one of its aims is to raise awareness of neurodiversity and this is something majorly important to me. I don’t want anyone out there to be struggling but not know why.  If there was more awareness about neurodiverse conditions I would have had my diagnosis many years before — and I wish I had. A diagnosis isn’t for everyone but it really helped me to accept my symptoms just as symptoms, and to stop blaming myself for things completely out of my control. 

The National Neurodiversity Youth Council has so many exciting goals, such as amplifying the voices of young people with neurodiversity on matters that affect them, and influencing government policy by having meetings with ministers and stressing the importance of listening to young people who are neurodiverse. For anyone who wants to find out more about the various goals, read this.

I am just so excited for this new challenge and getting to be involved in such an amazing project. 
 
How to organise yourself and manage your time

When you’ve got a lot going on I think being prepared is key. Have a calendar or calendar app to write down the times of activities/things you’re attending. I use an app on my phone so I can add things easily as the day goes along. Make sure you know what you need to do and when, I always find a to-do list helpful so I don’t forget things. 

Make sure you have fun too and take breaks. No one can be busy 24hrs a day. Sleep and nutrition are so important to help me stay focused and to have enough energy to get me through busy days and tough challenges. Having a good support system is important too, I speak to my twin sister, mum, and friends a lot when things get a bit too much. 

Keep on setting yourself new goals and personal challenges

I have two career ambitions. One is working in makeup for fashion and editorial settings as this is what my degree is in, but thanks to NCS I’d love to continue my involvement working in the youth sector. Being an NCS team leader has really shown me how vital youth-based programmes are to young people and how much young people can get out of them so I’d love to continue my involvement in a similar area in the future. 

Are you up for a new challenge? Check out the five-day and four-night NCS away from home experiences here.