RYLA Scholars

Young people are the future, which is why giving them opportunities to acquire and develop new skills is one of Rotary’s central aims. How worthwhile it is was abundantly clear from the Club’s two speakers, Emma Rubidge, a pupil at St Leonard’s, and Marcel Al-Horoub, from Madras. Each had come to thank the Rotary Club of St Andrews for sponsoring their attendance at a RYLA summer camp and to tell members what they had gained from it. ‘RYLA’ stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, which take the form, in this part of Scotland, of two week-long residential camps, one for girls and one for boys. Simply attending the camp is a challenge in itself, as Emma explained, because none of the participants knew one another beforehand. At the end of the first day, after an arduous bike ride, she and her teammates had to build a raft, which capsized and plunged them into a cold lake - a literal icebreaker! Hill-walking, climbing and abseiling and a swimming gala were among the activities that followed, all designed to test the young people, under expert supervision, by taking them beyond their comfort zone. Marcel drew a distinction between ‘BR’ and ‘AR’: before and after RYLA. BR Marcel, he told us, was shy, found talking to others challenging and was not a very active person. AR Marcel speaks confidently and has hardly been able to sit still since returning from camp! His main reason for applying to RYLA had been to bolster the personal statement in his application to Medical School. The experience had given him so much more than that. Both speakers were asked what makes a good leader. Emma had found that there were times when she had to lead from the front, by taking a crucial decision, but that one can also lead from the back, as it were, by giving opportunities to one’s fellow team members. “Take a risk today, darling” was a piece of advice from one of the tutors on her course that she and the other girls had found particularly inspiring. Like Emma, Marcel welcomed the fact that the tutors drew on their personal stories, rather than lecturing them, and he had been inspired by the resilience of someone who had lost a leg in Afghanistan. Before presenting Emma and Marcel with their Certificates of Achievement, President John Christie remarked on the extraordinary and lasting impact that this one week had had on our two speakers and expressed the hope that they would consider becoming Rotarians themselves in the fullness of time.

Each year this is a life changing experience for the young people who participate.