David Orme

For a long time I never had any strong interests in history, but since I began studying it in secondary school, it has sparked my interest and has captivated me ever since. Being able to learn about the history and politics of my country and the culture and history of others all around the globe, whilst expanding my knowledge from recent to age old topics, with the medieval period and cold war being two specific interests of mine; whilst intertwining the two to see how the world we live in has been shaped and influenced by books from historical scholars authors like Fischer and Alan Farmer, along with articles and scholarly videos from websites like Jstor and Massilot on topics like the unification of Germany or the development of Religion during the Tudor period. As my love for history grew, I found different aspects and periods of time that appeal to me, and now have a deep love of studying the 2nd world war and the cold war, being hooked by both my personal connection to these events whilst also my deeply driven interest in how these have effected the world we live in today. But most importantly for me, I'm able to see the sacrifice and effect on my local community and family, growing up in a community where everyone played a part, with local airfields which played their role in the battle of Britain along with those who went to fight. Being from a part of the world with so much involvement and connection to recent wars has allowed me to build a personal connection to the events and made me truly love studying it even more. My love for history does not just come from more recent events and is not confined to topics personal to me, as I found out since starting six form, studying Tudors; learning about their dynasty was something that hadn't appealed to me before and yet has since been the focus of my interests and whilst also changing my perspective moving forward, being open to a wide range of topics, seen more recently when I attended a lecture on the involvement of Women in Britain since 1945 and the extraordinary influence they have had,

Like most children my first taste of history came from watching horrible histories, and later through documentaries and movies I watched with my brother an example being Dunkirk which gave captured my interest for history and a strife to better understand the sacrifice made by many, along with some teaching from my local community and primary school with one of my most fond memorise being when I read a poem in my local church in 2018 to commemorate 100 years after the end of WW1, and was my first chance of public speaking which I owe to my want and interest in history. With the start of secondary school I started a more in depth education about the subject, taking it for GCSE. Since then I have listened to different podcasts, with my personal favourite being not just the Tudors on Spotify. I have watched many documentaries but favour towards cold war and WW2 topics for documentaries from YouTube as I find them more interesting compared to podcasts. I have also attended a University History lecture and learned about the importance of Women from 1945- modern day in Britain and enjoyed this as it uncovered an aspect of history normally ignored which I found extremely fascinating when looking at just how influential Women have been in Britain.

I also study classics which although is not directly linked to history, it allows me to study ancient history and practice essay writing and debating on historical topics, like Roman politics, whilst also understanding different aspects of war and governance, which I find interesting to compare with modern history looking at the similarities and differences of the two. Along with attending an ancient History talk which helped expand my historical knowledge and interest, as not directly linked to my subjects (being a period of time that I don't study) I wanted to develop my knowledge nonetheless as I push to expand my knowledge and interest for history going forward.

It's also worth mentioning how attending a Church of England school played a part in my love for history, as it helped with my understanding of Tudors particularly, the reformation and changes that shaped England into the Anglican state it is today, which is one of the reasons for my love for the subject.

My involvement in the Combined cadet force also influenced my interest in History, as being a sergeant in The RAF cadets, I have learnt about the history of the RAF, along with going on Training camps with amazing people, notably a history teacher, who gave me a lot of external knowledge of Britain's involvement in the cold war.

I am on my second year competing in the devises to Westminster ultra marathon, which has taught me many skills, from determination when feeling like giving up, and optimism when in failure, after being pulled from my first year and yet still going back too do it all again the next year even with the knowledge of the pain and determination I will need to complete such an event. By having a gilding license I've learnt imperative skills from thinking under pressure to planning ahead, ensuring all problems and eventualities have been addressed, further developed through training for a PPL (private pilots license) I have consolidated these skills whilst gaining many more useful characteristics from staying calm in difficult situations, especially when the unexpected happens, but importantly being able to continue when all seems lost, which I found a common feeling whilst trying to juggle the 9 exams and training to acquire my flying licence whilst studying for A levels, along with a commitment to sport. This for me has been the biggest challenge and one I feel most proud to say I have and continue to do, highlighting my time management and strife to better myself going forward. I take this approach into everything I do as seen with my Scuba diving, where I am an advanced PADI qualified diver who is looking towards further developing my qualification with other courses in mind, not just doing bear minimum, but rather pushing to develop my skills, and learn many more going forward.