"We are delighted to have Cameron with us on Gap Year, alongside five other young adults. It's such a privilege seeing the Gap Year team allow God to work in and through them as they step out in faith on this adventure. God impacts their lives as they are sent out, so that more young lives all over Scotland, like Cameron’s, can be changed by God for the better." — Kirsten Thomson, Gap Year Coordinator
My time in school was never easy. I always got picked on and left out of everything. And since the school didn't deal with it, I decided to try not to attract attention and also try not to react. So, without knowing it, I became the quiet person at the back of the class that nobody noticed. And that never felt quite right but it was who I’d become so I lived with it.
Until I went to GO Conference… where I became lively, friendly and well respected by people my age, something I never had at school. This transformation was so huge, only God could do it. The people there helped bring about the change, but all the real work was done by God. But I didn’t realise what had changed, or why I felt different until I got home and realised that I was going to have to go back into school tomorrow and change back. There I realised the reason I felt different was because being this lively, friendly person was natural to me. It was who I really was, and I wasn’t going to get to be that person anymore. I cried long and hard about that.
And this is why I love working with SU, so much. They showed me who I really was, and now that I’ve left school, I’ll always get to be that person and I love it. So, when I found out I could work with SU for a whole year, and form even deeper relationships with the people I already knew, well, it was the easiest decision I’ve ever made.
Now I’m working alongside the brilliant East Team and helping to lead SU groups, which is something I really enjoy. I also get to
go to meetings to discuss preparation for events I once attended myself, and then get to lead at them, which is great. I have formed close friendships with the other gap years and I’m surrounded by people who know my story, and are always willing to help me cope with it.
Cameron McBirnie | Gap Year 2022/23
Interested in Gap Year with SU Scotland?
Contact Kirsten.Thomson@suscotland.org.uk
Or visit suscotland.org.uk/gapyear
This article was taken from the November 2022 edition of @SU Magazine.
Editor: Hilary Phillips | cygnus-extra.co.uk
Design: Kimberly Wray | innovivid.co.uk
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