Don't think, but act

Hi, and welcome to my 3rd blog!

My father said, "Don't think, but act," so I started to act it. I've been working hard the last week to get sponsors. I have contacted several companies, and I called for the first time and then called for the second, third, and even fourth time. In one week!

The first time I called, was actually very unexpected. I was talking to some friends of ours about School at Sea and what actions I could take, when they wondered who in their network could help me. Then we continued talking, but as we continued talking she suddenly called someone! This person has an important position at a large company. He is also a sailing fanatic himself, so that is of course an advantage. After a short introduction I had to start talking. With a trembling leg I told him everything I could remember at the time, and it went well! He said he was going to bring it up with whoever is in charge and that he would be in touch again this week. To be continued!

After this first experience, I decided to call another company a few days later. That went a bit less smoothly... I went to call the reception, since I couldn't find any other numbers. When I called, I asked if she had a moment, "well, actually I'm a bit busy at the moment." So there went attempt 1.

A day later I decided to call again, this time with a different approach. I would ask for the management secretary, so that she would then ask me why I wanted to speak to her and then tell my story. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy... Instead of asking "What do you want to talk to her about?", she asked "Which executive secretary do you want to talk to?" Which? Are there several? So then she asked me: "what is it about?" Completely confused, I said : "a project" "What kind of project?" "A project for which I need sponsorship" "Just send an email to explain your project in more detail" And I did. Although I don't think they're going to do anything with it, I got a little further than the first time.

My fourth call was slightly more important than the previous one: I was going to talk to a company in English. After I raced home from school, I sat down in front of the computer with my father. After a short introduction I started on my story and my so-called "business proposal". After my story, he told me that he wants to sponsor me, but that he still needs to discuss how much money. He also told me that he is going to make me a "star" in the event industry. Nice isn't it?

That same evening we sat at the table (eating and) discussing who else I could approach. "Hmmm, maybe we could ask him...?" "I'll send him a message asking if I can come by soon." So we sent a message. With the answer: "I am free in half an hour, will you come by then?" "All right, see you soon" Half an hour?! There went my preparation. I quickly ran upstairs to do some research about his company. And half an hour later I was sitting there, at the kitchen table. While I was telling my story, he said he didn't know if his company does sponsorship and that he was going to ask. And a few days later I received an email saying that the company is not sponsoring, but he will do the following: He has invested in Shiba coins (crypto coins, which are currently worth about 0.00001974 euros). He said: "I'm going to try to earn money for you with this, but if it doesn't work, you still get 250 euros" Thank you very much!!! Of course I have my fingers crossed that the prices will go up.

Next to School at Sea, I've been very busy this week with my profile choice. I am now in the 3rd grade and this week extra attention was paid to it. On Thursday we had trial lessons, in which we were given a short introduction to the "new" subjects. Friday we went to a university. You could choose between Leiden, TU Delft or stay at school and receive courses there from students. I went to Delft, as I am a real beta and I want to choose N&T(Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics B). At the TU, we have designed a terraced house that is as sustainable and inexpensive as possible. Unfortunately we didn't win, but it was a very fun and educational experience. During the break we were given a tour on the campus. Man that was big! After the break we had our second workshop and learned to program in Minecraft. In short, a very nice day!

This gave me an insight into what kind of study I want to do. Maritime Technology seems like a lot of fun to me, and that gives me a new reason to join School at Sea; get to know a boat from all sides.

In short, I had a great week, in which I discovered that there are quite a lot of people who want to help me. Also I am well on the way