Merthyr learner soaring for success with trip to Camp America

Merthyr learner soaring for success with trip to Camp America

An ambitious college learner from Merthyr Tydfil is set to spend the summer of a lifetime in the states after impressing bosses across the pond at the famous Camp America programme.

19-year-old Ffion Faith Evans has bagged herself a place at the famous American camp after spending a successful six-week stint there last summer.

The Travel and Tourism learner from Coleg y Cymoedd will be jetting back off to the USA at the beginning of June for an eight-week summer camp placement.  

Camp America is a cultural exchange programme that provides young people from all over the globe with the chance to spend their summer living and working on a camp in the USA, taking care of and entertaining younger camp residents. 

The dedication and enthusiasm she displayed last year while working as a Camp America lifeguard and dorm leader impressed the team so much that she received the rare opportunity to be invited to return for another sought-after placement.

The return to Camp America will see Ffion, who plans to travel the world working in the skies as a flight attendant, clock up her air miles. Not fazed by being the other side of the globe, Ffion jumped at the chance to take part in the trip the first-time round and could not wait to hear what job she would be doing once she was there.

As a strong swimmer with training as a swimming coach, unsurprisingly Ffion was allocated the role of lifeguard – a position that she loved. Ffion explained: “While at the camp I was responsible for ensuring pool safety, organising and running activities at the waterfront, such as aqua aerobics and ninja warriors.

“On top of this, I also stayed in a dorm with twelve eight-year-old children whom I had personal responsibility of during all periods of downtime, as well as at night, which was certainly a testing but enjoyable experience.

 “Working at Camp America was an absolutely incredible experience and one that I will never forget. I made some friends for life while I was out there and learnt so much, both in terms of skills, and about myself in general. I came back home with so much more confidence, and I can’t wait to go back out there again.”

For Ffion, the time at Camp America provided her with a number of valuable skills that she plans to use in her future career.

Those skills will be added to those Ffion has developed while studying for a Level 3 qualification in Travel and Tourism with Air Cabin Crew at Coleg y Cymoedd’s Ystrad Mynach campus, which prepares learners for a career in the travel industry with modules including customer service, the business of tourism, and practical sessions in passenger care and health & safety. The course even includes a trip to Heathrow Airport to take part in British Airways training exercises on aircraft evacuation and water-based survival sessions.

Ffion added: “The experience taught me that it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from, anyone can work together and build strong friendships, even after just a couple of weeks together.  It’s also shown me that patience is a virtue, and that no matter how tired you are, if you have the willpower you can push through and get a job done. I think all of this has prepared me for a future role in cabin crew.”

Ffion was supported to take part in the programme by Coleg y Cymoedd with the college paying for her expenses through the Boost programme.

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