For this year’s Everest Lecture, marking Marlborough’s contribution to the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, we welcomed Mandy Hickson, the first woman to fly the Tornado GR4 on the front line for the RAF.
Mandy shared the deeply inspirational journey of how she achieved her childhood dream against all odds. First, she had to overcome the challenge of being female in the male-dominated RAF. We then learnt of her unique experiences leading up to and including her work flying fast jets all over the world. This included operating when technology and communication was limited, being in flight at the time of 9/11, as well as leading combat missions and even evading missiles in Iraq.
Mandy’s brilliant character certainly uplifted the talk, engaging everyone with her entertaining humour and powerful messages, even in the heat of the day! She motivated us with vital lessons of determination, teamwork, leadership and decision making, leaving us with an equally profound message that she pioneers to spread globally to companies and young people alike: ‘Dream it, Believe it, Do it’. After the opportunity to ask questions, many were delighted to take away a physical reminder from Mandy’s talk; one of her own books. We are hugely grateful to Mandy for her time, and were all left deeply moved.
Pupil review by Zara S-J
