I had the pleasure to speak to several schools in Austria over the last two days. More than 800 kids had the pleasure (or pain ?) to listen to my adventures. As a good friend of mine pointed out: Speaking to kids is way more difficult than adults – the latter ones want to listen to you…. the first ones HAVE to listen to you!
Indeed it was super interesting and I have to admit – nothing more rewarding then watching all these young faces, focused with 120% attention when I talk about the storm and our final push to the summit.
A big realisation was the difference in questions I received depending on the age of my audience:
The youngest (10) were mostly interested in how one goes to the toilet up high (well thats what the pee bottle is for;) , with 14 they seem to be keen to know the finances (How do you pay for all this? mmmmh, i really want to know myself!). The oldest where shy at first (the fact that i was speaking in english might have been a reason), but then a few curious couldnt hold their questions any longer – What did you feel when you stood on the summit! Very good one: It felt great, but it was also one of the most humbling moments ever – to realise how small we are in comparison to all this world around us.
My key message was: Stay focused on your dreams and with the right preparation and lots of work you have the chance to make them reality!
One question however was a recurring one: Whats next? Well, i couldn’t really answer that question (just yet)…. stay tuned, an update to follow shortly!
