Maiden changed my life. I have never thought I would be here and have accomplished all this at this age. I was just a girl from South Africa with big dreams and Minimum sailing qualification but if you told me I’d sail around the world, I would have laughed at you. Being on Maiden has been a lifetime opportunity, eye opener and a learning experience. I have enjoyed each and every moment of it, different traditions, culture and language just to name a few. What touched me when I joined Maiden was seeing a bunch of girls who has this amazing love for the ocean and doing something big for the world of which is sailing to raise funds for girls education. That is one of my biggest highlight as we know most girls in some countries in the world they are denied their birth right of education. I was so honoured to meet the amazing woman who’s behind Maiden: the legend herself, Tracy Edward’s MBE. She’s amazing! She really made history for women in sailing ,broke the barriers as an all female team. She paved the way for us. She gave me an opportunity to sail on her precious boat and I tried my best and was given another opportunity after being an intern on one of the maiden legs and got chosen to do the ocean globe race. Maiden isn’t just a boat or foundation, but a family, The shore team, crew and Tracy herself. Through maiden I’ve gained a lot of skills, experience and knowledge that made me a better version of myself and learn things that I didn’t know about myself . Favourite parts were all the stops plus sailing as it always different to be in a new country and experience different weather conditions as it always not gonna be the same at sea and I’m always going to take something from that as a lesson . Plus meeting the Queen and the Duchess is a big flex for me! Best moment was winning the race as I was a bit worried that Tracy did the race and made history... how about us? Are we gonna keep the legacy? And guess what? We won and made more history! I shared and cherish the best moments with the maidens and I’ll forever grateful to have met those bunch of girls. They are the best. I am now studying to get more sailing qualifications and getting ready for school next year to do a back up qualification as I didn’t get a chance to go to university so when ever I decide to stop being at sea then I can use this qualification on land but it will both benefit me on both side land and sea. In SA I was awarded a scholarship and I am also doing talks to motivate the young generation by telling them my journey and encouraging them to chase their dreams and not give up. As the maiden slogan says ‘educate a girl, change the world.’