Episode 2 Being Sixteen in 2014

'Filmed over a year, all over Scotland...

'..these two films are a snapshot of our lives.

'We don't claim to represent this generation...

'..but we do know what it's like, being 16.'

'Your parents expect you to act like an adult,'

but they'll still treat you, and see you, as a child.

There's an overwhelming sense that the future is coming,

it feels always unstable.

You are making life decisions here.

'It's a big year for us.

'For all of us.'

Older people probably look down on our generation

and think that we just know absolutely nothing.

People have a stereotypical image of us which makes them think

they can't trust us with bigger responsibilities.

I guess at this age you think of so many great things and

so many fantastic ideas,

but you kind of think that now's not my time.

But now SHOULD be our time.

My name is Kieran.

I'm an international trapeze artist.

I have travelled the world and hold the record for the highest

and longest bike ride on a high wire.

Obviously, that's not strictly true,

because I don't like heights.

But that's not to say I couldn't be a trapeze artist

if I wanted to.

I was brought up with the belief that there's no such word as "can't".

'I live in Wick. It's a very peaceful place...

'unlike my house, thanks to my three excitable brothers.

'The house can be hectic, to say the least...'

Ewan!

'..but I wouldn't change it for the world.

'Sport is one of the most important things in my life.

'Without it, life would seem pretty dull.

'My hero is David Weir.

'He's a man who can do things in a chair I didn't think were possible.

'Sometimes when I'm lying in hospital and not feeling very well,

'I think to myself, "David's got through this, so I can, too."'

-Yes!

-Ssh!

I demand a recount.

Matt! Matt, cut. They must never see this!

The people must never witness this!

This one here, John, who's behind the sofa, is evil.

After I share all my sweeties with you, this is the thanks I get.

Exactly. I am your big brother, it's in my contract.

Most of the time we are all very happy, and it's blissful,

and there's, like, angels flying about the house

most of the time. We just shooed them off before you got here.

I'm the big brother, I'm supposed to protect them and everything.

I love them and I want to help them in any way it's possible to

help them, so I do feel kind of responsible in some ways.

Oh, I missed a shot there. Sorry, getting off track.

But it's really good, I enjoy living with Mum and Dad and everyone.

We're happy.

I think the best aspect of a family is the unconditional love.

Like, you may feel very alone at times, you may lose

all your friends at school, but you'll always have your family.

I think all families are unique in the way that they go about

dealing with each other and helping each other,

but I think they have one thing in common, though,

that all brothers and sisters naturally hate each other.

The worst part of a family is probably having to deal

with them, cos immediate family living with you,

you're with them all the time.

The most annoying thing about my parents?

How long does this documentary have to be? Erm...

The most annoying thing about my parents is the nagging,

the constant nagging of, "Do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that."

Definitely the "do your homework now" speech.

They say I'm messy.

I don't know where they got that from.

'My name is Margot.

'My one biggest hope for the future is to become an actress.'

She is a woman,

her eye fixed on the shadow of her solitary ambition...

'But thinking about the future scares me to death, because I know

'I've chosen a hard path, especially considering where we live.

'We moved to the Isle of Skye about ten years ago.'

Come on!

'It's crazy saying that,

'as I still don't feel like I've fully settled here.

'Skye is a wonderful place, in many ways, like the gorgeous views

'and the freedom of the outdoors.

'I mean, I get to look out my window and see ocean

'and hills, which is amazing, but I guess it's just not for me.

'The longer I live here, the more I realise how drawn I am to the city.

'School's OK, for now.

'I know as a kid, I watched those American high school films

'and expected to have thousands of friends,

'and get a boyfriend instantly and go on holiday all the time, but

'that is completely not what it is, which was disappointing to find out.'

That was pretty good...

This is my drama class, and everyone just now is

practising for their exam plays, which we have in a month.

We've prepared our play already,

because we are entering our piece into a competition,

and we are performing it later on this week at the Aros Theatre.

I guess what I like about drama, is I prefer being someone

else in a whole other reality world, whatever,

whether it's fictional or not.

It's more fun than being myself.

I'm not completely satisfied with the way my life is just now.

The rumour was that I was a lesbian.

It wasn't the rumour that affected me,

because I kind of felt like saying, "So what if I am? Do you have

"a problem with that? It's got nothing to do with you."

The thing is, I couldn't say that, because I wasn't.

I used to have kids go past me, with their tops over their nose,

and I heard people say, "Don't breathe the lesbian's air!"

and stuff like that.

And that's what annoyed me,

cos I thought, "Why are you being like this?"

'Once rumours catch on, people make them bigger than they actually are,

'and it just kind of escalates, and that's what happened to me.'

Occasionally, there are crazy rumours that go around the school,

and you sit there and you're, like, "What are you talking about?!

"This never happened!"

I think gossip is common in schools, because everyone is

so closely packed - you can have 600 people within 100 square metres,

and within that, it's easy to spread rumours from one end of the hall

to the other, and within that, 600 people will know about it.

It's all fun and games talking about someone behind their back

and getting in on rumours

and telling your friends what you've just heard, until you're the one

people are talking about. Then that's when it gets serious and horrible.

'People tend to be cruel towards things

'that they don't understand.'

If you don't understand something, then it's easier to mock it.

Some people wanting to feel good about themselves,

means to them that they have to make other people feel worse.

Teenagers can be very horrible, and it's difficult to deal with,

but there's not much that can change that.

'My name is Gaelan.

'I live in small village called Mossbank,

'which is in the northeast mainland of Shetland.

'It's pretty remote, but growing up here has been a good experience,

'though that's not to say it's always been easy.

'My dad was a veteran from the first Gulf War

'and he came back suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

'And then when I was seven, my mum had a major stroke

'and collapsed at the bottom of the stairs.

'I remember finding her there and not knowing what to do.

'Those kind of things have had a big impact on myself

'and my two brothers.

'I left school as soon as I could.

'Sitting at a desk just wasn't for me.

'I have to be doing something productive.

'It's what I've always enjoyed.

'I'm an apprentice joiner. I get £3.52 per hour, which is

'a couple of pence more than the minimum wage.

'It's a fairly decent wage,

'considering I'm learning things as I go along.

'There are a few downsides of living up here, like the buses.'

All right, Rory?

I've still not been paid yet, so it'll be tomorrow or Wednesday.

Cheers!

'Everything is based in Lerwick, the main town in Shetland.

'It's about 30 miles away, and about an hour or so on the bus.

'I've been saving up for a motorbike, so that when I turn 17

'I won't be so dependent on the buses.'

Rory has very, very kindly let me on for free until I get my money.

He's always said if I'm ever short, then just tell him,

and he'll let me off that time and I will pay him back when I can.

I mean, none of us like debt,

but it's just one of those things that happens.

When I get my bike, that'll mainly be for getting to and from work on site.

My mum and dad are quite supportive of me getting a bike.

Dad's got a few bikes himself and he used to ride them a lot

when he was younger.

Dad's all for it and he's even saying that he'll pay for lessons.

The only problem with living up in Shetland

is the fuel prices tend to be higher

than some of the other places down south.

At the moment, money is a little bit tight.

Ah, I definitely worry about money all the time.

I don't think it's the main thing. To have friends and family

around you is much more important than having millions of pounds.

It's true that money doesn't make you happy,

but a lack of it does make life harder.

I was ten when the recession hit,

so I've never really grown up having great amounts of money,

so I think that's matured me and made me a lot more aware

of how important it is to day-to-day life and how careful you need to be.

Money doesn't take you as far as you think when you're younger.

I thought £100 would get me really, really far.

I've never been more wrong in my life.

So what I've basically learnt about money is that it controls everything,

it controls what you can and can't do,

and basically sets limits on your life.

'My name is Amy Jo.

'I've been in love with flying for as long as I can remember.

'I've always wanted to be a pilot, but more specifically,

'I would like to fly fast jets in the RAF or the Navy.

'I can't imagine doing anything more amazing.

'I'm learning to fly gliders

'and I'm hoping to go solo this year.

'I don't talk a lot at school,

'and as a result, I think people see me as a bit of a loner.

'That's the difficult side of being a teenager,

'the social and emotional side.

'I just wish it was all a little bit more linear.

'I don't think that life has meaning, I just think we're here by some

'accident or chance, and if there is a meaning to life then

'that suggests that someone created the Earth and everything on it.

'I just don't find that feasible.

'But then, how can you really know, I suppose?

'You can only really debate it.'

I call upon Amy Jo to continue the case for side opposition.

Hear, hear.

Now, we hear all along, up and down this table,

that the father clearly is going to not take any time off -

he's going to be at work all the time

if he's not forced into taking time off.

But we don't see that this is an issue, as such.

We see fathers DO take time off.

Sometimes the father will be the main person who looks after the child

and the mother won't be.

That topic's hard, because personally,

I sort of agree with it halfway.

When I was younger, it was my mum that did all the work and my

dad stayed at home all the time with me, so certainly I know it works.

We've heard that the parents need to be together to raise a child,

but we don't always see this as a necessity.

Often, I'm sure we all understand,

a relationship isn't always good for somebody, and that often,

relationships aren't as nice and sweet and fairy-tale as we imagine.

I'm going to be talking about the main extension now...

'Last year, after my third-year exams,

'my mum had a funny mental health phase.

'It was just horrible, because she didn't want to see us, she didn't

'want to speak to us. I didn't know what was going on, because my dad

'wouldn't really tell me. He's not brilliant at telling people emotions.

'My mum had been taken into a mental hospital at Stracathro.

'I just felt as if I was completely collapsing in on myself.

'Just the world had fallen away from me.

'With the whole depression thing,

'that's not something that just comes on.'

It's horrible to know that your own parents

haven't really been telling you the whole story.

# Right before my eyes

# I saw the whole world lose control

# The whole world lost control

# Before my eyes, uh-huh... #

'I've never felt as devastated as I was then, and I just remember'

I just cried and I pretty much didn't stop until the next morning.

# ..I can't take this any more It breaks my mind, uh-huh... #

I'm still not sure if it was the right decision they made,

to split up, but it is what it is just now,

and I just have to deal with it.

To some people, a normal family might be real,

but in my opinion, I don't think it is, cos I think everybody's

got something different going on at home.

I know that when parents split up, young people can be massively

affected by that, but I remember

when my parents split up, I didn't really care that much.

They weren't happy with each other,

so it made sense for them to separate.

If two people aren't happy in a marriage,

why cause a fuss over them leaving?

Everything starts with your basics, and if your family,

being your most basic place, is not stable, then you're going

to have a very, very hard time making everything else stable.

It can impact different people in different ways,

but it's hardly ever a positive impact.

'Hi, I'm Gregor.

'I live in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire.

'I live with my mum, my brother and one of my two older sisters,

'and her daughter, Anwin, who's 18 months old.

'We're a very, very close family, and I do love them all, equally.

'When I was younger it used to always get to me, the fact that

'I wasn't sporty, geeky or cool. I didn't fit in with the cliques.

'You see it in American high school movies all the time,

'you've got the jocks and the Goths and people like that.

'I'm one of the kids in the music department.'

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's always tomorrow

# Lean on me when you're not strong... #

'Now I'm musical, so I have a place to fit in,

'and a place to have friends, and a place to be myself.'

# ..somebody to lean on... #

My mum wants me to go on and get a fantastic education,

she wants me to go to uni, but I want to do something with music.

# Lights will guide you home... #

'We've got a big show with the music department coming

'up at the end of the year, which we're all really excited for.'

# I will try to fix you... #

Sounding good, guys!

I like to think I've got a lot of friends at choir.

Yeah, I definitely do.

And that's another thing that's just great,

being able to go there and not be judged at all and make new friends.

'My relationship I've recently started up

'is with a very, very close friend. My best friend, a girl called Megan.'

# A teenager's romance

# Is fickle or true... #

We grew in closeness,

then...

you know how it is.

'It's like, you used to hear fairy-tale stories of two kids

'growing up together and then...

'getting split up apart and then meeting each other further on in life

'and then getting married.

'And the first kiss is amazing.

'I can actually remember the first time that I kissed her.'

And it was...it was THE best kiss of my life.'

# Keep saying you love me

# And they'll look upon... #

She's like a princess to me.

Like, she really is. She only deserves the best,

and that's what I hope I can give to her.

# A teenager's romance that goes on and on. #

"Oh, my God, I really, really, really

"want a boyfriend who treats me amazingly!"

And I'm like, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

Girls are the worst thing about being a teenager.

They're so stressful.

Trust and understanding,

I think that's the only way to have a good relationship.

Yeah, being in a relationship's nice,

but I think they should actually grasp what it really is

before rushing headlong because of some One Direction song.

At the moment, I don't particularly see the point in it.

I mean, I know other people do, but I don't want to be sitting

there being heartbroken, rather than focusing on what really does matter.

'There's a little thing at the moment,

'and he's older than me, he's a year above me,

'and I really like him, and he's told me he likes me as well.'

I love spending time with him,

we've had lunch a few times recently, which I was really

happy about, cos he asked me and I didn't have to ask him.

And all my friends were, like, "You should ask him!

"You should ask him! He'll say yes." But I didn't want to,

cos I've never experienced anything like that.

'I've never liked anyone as much as I like him.

'And I've never even contemplated going out with anyone,'

like as a choice, I've never wanted to go out with anyone,

but I can see myself going out with him,

but I don't know what he's thinking right now.

'A lot of kids are in relationships at my school.

'A lot of girls have older boyfriends,

'like, girls in the year below me will have boyfriends in the year

'above me, and a lot of kids my age have had sex, for example.'

My first time...was...too early.

Erm, I can now look back and say I wasn't...I wasn't ready for it,

and it was a wee bit too serious for the stage I was at.

Oh, I am not sure how to answer that one. I don't know.

Do I have to answer that one?

Er...my sex life is for me to know and you to find out.

Or maybe not.

I'm 15. I don't know what I think about sex yet.

Having sex at a young age is stupid, but other than that, that's fine.

Unless you're not married, and I believe in sex after marriage.

Neither of us were expecting it to go that far, to be honest,

but yeah, it was enjoyable.

Sex is something that I kind of cringe away from.

It's not something I like talking about very much.

Sex is necessary for the survival of the human race.

Come to my woman's breasts and take my milk for gall,

Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature's mischief.

Come, thick night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of Hell...

Remember it!

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of Hell...

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of Hell...

That...no...

No.

Almost there, though.

Can you come and help me set up the stage, please, everybody?

We are doing our play tonight.

The competition aspect of it is really exciting,

and the judge coming just adds more pressure.

So I'm playing Lily Morgan,

who is a very dull, stupid girl,

and the whole play is basically about me trying to convince

people that I CAN play Lady Macbeth.

Everyone's trying to convince me not to go up for the part,

and it's kind of transforming from a really dull boring character

into kind of a version of Lady Macbeth.

THEY WHISPER

"She is a woman, her eye fixed on the shadow of her solitary ambition."

-D'you know who wrote that?

-Why are you doing this, Lily?

Coleridge! Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

"Her eye fixed on the shadow of her solitary ambition."

Lily is a very ambitious character, and wants to get everything

she wants, and wants everything to go her way, and that's like me.

-Thou would be...

-Lily!

-Why can't for bloody once can't it be me?!

LAUGHTER

Oh, Lily.

-It went so well!

-I'm so happy!

-It went really quick as well.

-I know.

-I'm so proud of you.

-Did you like it?

Oh, my God, it was really brilliant.

I was getting drinks at the bar, and everybody was going,

"Are you the mother?!"

"Yeah! That's my girl!"

I'm just happy I didn't forget my lines.

My darling! I'm so proud of you, cherie!

'Cerebral palsy is a condition that basically starts

'when not the right amount of oxygen gets into your brain

'during, kind of, being born.

'I don't like it when people sit there and go, "Oh, it's Kieran,

"he's the guy with the chair."

I'm hoping people will see that the chair doesn't define me,

-I

-define me.

Let's see if you've improved your driving. It's a tight corner.

Up round...

Wahey! You got it this time.

You did well, my Padawan.

It's good to see so many happy smiling faces,

especially all of our children.

Must be a very special day today - Kieran's got a tie on.

'Religion, I think, is a big part of all our lives up in Wick.

'Pretty much everyone goes to church, it's a kind of ritual,'

get your... As we call it in Wick, get your fancies on, like your

fancy tops and your fancy jeans and everything and just go to church.

-ALL:

-# Then sings my soul

# My Saviour God to Thee... #

'Regardless of whether you're religious or not,

'if you have faith in you as a person,

or in a god,

'or in anything, then you're more likely to succeed.

'That's the way I kind of think.'

# How great thou art. #

'When my parents split up, I didn't know what was going on,

'I didn't know how to deal with it, I didn't know where I was going,

'what I was doing, and that did have quite a big impact.

'At school I was consistently going downhill with it.'

There was, like, literally nothing that would get me

out of my bed in the morning apart from gliding.

I'm ready, Amy Jo.

OK. Cable on, please.

Left rod up.

'I don't know if it's a bad thing, but my life's just become

'an endless cycle of waiting to get up in the air next time.

'And that sounds really cheesy, but it just feels amazing when

'you're up there, there's nothing quite like the buzz I get from it.'

'I'm getting close to going solo flying,

'and I've just realised that it is actually

'a realistic thing, that I could actually fly as a career,

'and it just feels like the world is definitely looking up.'

She's happy when she's doing this. What more does a parent want,

than for your child to be happy doing what they love?

There is still that sort of panic, I do get a bit of,

"Oh, my God, I've got to get on the ground,"

but you can't afford to panic, cos, yeah, that's not so good.

Nice one, Amy Jo.

I can't wait until I can be in control of my own life,

I can choose what I do and when I'm doing it.

You get to that point where you feel like you need to grow up

and you need to start making your own decisions,

and I think a lot of people feel that way before they turn 16.

Which can also be scary, it can also be,

"This is something I feel I should be running to my parents for,"

but I also know I can't always keep running to my parents for things."

And it's learning how to gradually stand on your own two feet

a bit more.

Jobs are so scarce nowadays,

and good jobs are even more scarce.

Some teenagers are very, very enthusiastic to go and join

the world of work, but then there's others that are, like,

"Have I grown up too quickly? Am I going to miss being a kid?"

MUSIC "When I Grow Up To Be A Man" by The Beach Boys

# When I grow up to be a man

# Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid?

# Will I look back and say

# Well, I wish I hadn't done what I did?

# Will I joke around and still dig those sounds...? #

Everybody's winners, everyone!

# When I grow up to be a man

# Will I look for the same things in a woman that I dig in a girl?

# 14...15...

# Will I settle down fast or will I first wanna travel the world...? #

'The reason I left school is I just plain and simply didn't enjoy it.

'It was boring, it was desk work, paper work, it was repeating

'the same thing over and over and over, day in and day out.

'I've done a lot of woodwork and I knew I enjoyed it,

'so I thought joinery might be the path for me to go down.'

And now obviously I am working as an apprentice joiner.

If you look straight down on that bubble,

it should be right in the centre.

-Well...

-No? Has it moved again?

'It's cos the apprenticeship is part at college and part on site, so it is

'more of a smooth transition from school, slowly eased into the world

'of work, so we've not got this huge weight of responsibility dropped

'onto our shoulders, and just expected to cope straightaway.

'I think I live to work,'

cos when I'm at home doing nothing, and I'm playing my games or whatever,

it just doesn't feel right.

'I enjoy work, it's one of the best and greatest parts of my day.

And yeah, it is a way for me to move out and start being independent

and living on my own as soon as.

Homesies.

'Part of me thinks I might have grown up too fast,

'purely because of the fact that when Mum had the stroke,

'we all had to adapt very quickly,

'and with Dad being a Gulf War veteran,

'and his Gulf War Syndrome and PTSD,

'so that's affected us in growing up quickly as well.'

Yeah, there were some things I didn't get to do,

that I would've liked to, and I know you two blame yourselves.

And it isn't your fault, you can't blame yourselves.

-You're determined to make me cry, aren't you?

-Yeah.

I'm just waiting for you to cry.

I think it's helped shape who I am today,

and I think it's helped develop my understanding.

I think it's made us stronger as a family.

I think it has, yeah.

I joke about kicking you all out the door at 16, but it's actually

wanting to see you guys go out and live your life.

I don't want to keep you close to.

Kids are meant to fly the nest at some stage.

# When I was just a little girl

# I asked my mother What will I be? #

'We're in Glasgow, this is my mum's house.

'Since she's come down here, she has been a lot better.

'Since my mum's breakdown and all the stuff in and out of hospital,

'I've definitely learnt that you need to be more aware

'of your mental health, because I've seen what happens when you're not.'

So you keep saying how much you hate school, and yet you want to go into

the Navy. Are you sure that it won't just be a replacement for school?

Military is exciting, it's fun,

and you get to travel the world, you get to do exciting flying,

you get to do stuff that hopefully is going to be doing people good.

But there's two things that worry me big time about it.

One is that you've not actually thought through the bits

that are not nice to think through.

I have!

I just want you to have thought it through so completely.

What I wouldn't want you to do is suddenly find yourself in a position

and think, "D'you know what? If I'd really thought about it,

"I'd know deep down I was going into it because I want to fly,

"not because I think that armed response is a...good idea."

Well, I think I AM going into it because I want to fly,

and I want an exciting life.

But I think armed force isn't a good idea ALL the time,

but it is necessary some of the time.

Well, I don't know. I suppose I'm...

Just going to have to deal with it.

Yeah, well, yeah, of course I would.

I very much want you to live your life

and I don't want you to be frightened of not doing anything.

So many people don't quite get round to living the life they...

It's like they're saving themselves for something.

What are you saving yourself for?

I think there's too many yellows.

I'd much rather have a job that makes me happy

than a job that makes me rich and depressed.

What excites me most about the future is,

basically, I want to see what happens with my life, I want to know

if I do anything interesting, I want to know what jobs I get,

if I ever get married, like ever, or have children.

Children scare me, though.

Meet somebody, get married, have children.

I guess now it happens in different orders,

especially with my generation.

I have made mistakes, definitely,

although everyone makes mistakes, especially when we're teenagers.

'And you've got to be careful with other people

'so you don't hurt them.

'I broke up with Megan cos there were some issues that weren't

'getting spoken about,

'we just thought we were living in a dream.

'I can't remember once that we argued,

'so when it all came up to boil, it got really messy and angry.

'Everything's based around hormones and mad feelings

'and stuff like that.'

Those times that you hurt and those times that you make mistakes,

they're heart-wrenching, in a much different perspective from what

a parent or an adult would see as heart-wrenching, most definitely.

It's really unfortunate that your first glimpse of what a relationship

could be or could have been ended up in hurting you,

because...certainly...

love doesn't hurt. I mean, if it's love, it doesn't hurt.

So, from...

-Really?

-Yeah.

-That's not what I've heard.

You're sounding like you're talking from experience.

Well, everybody's experienced... you know...being...being hurt,

whether it's a relationship or...with...

You see that's the awkward part, that's the awkward part -

we didn't even go out, so what do you say to people? You can't call

him your ex, you can't say we broke up, cos it was never a thing.

It's like that "we almost went out" phase.

Yeah, but you are fiery and sensitive,

so you just threw yourself into it, thinking that was...

Listening to your heart and...

There's more fish in the sea.

Yeah, but there's not.

Yeah, OK, I'm joking.

There's not more fish on Skye.

Maybe a few anchovies flipping around some places.

I never thought I'd get over it, but I'm over it.

Yeah.

I wouldn't... I wouldn't change it.

Cos you've learned something.

-Yeah.

-Yep.

# Please help me mend my broken heart

# And let me live again... #

'Me and Megan were together for six months.'

Obviously I felt upset and felt like...

HE SIGHS: I don't know...

I felt kind of lonely for a wee bit.

It is just a teenage thing, it just happens and you get to grow up

and you do get past it.

She's got a new boyfriend and I've got a new girlfriend,

and you know, I guess we're both perfectly fine with that.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

'What I like about Kaitlyn is that she is way different

'from everybody else, and she does not want to be part of the crowd.

'There's nobody like her that I've ever met.'

# Love, love is strange... #

Thank you very much.

Cheers.

# Lot of people take it for a game

# Once you get it

# You're in an awful fix... #

The best thing about being young and in love is that you are young,

and in love, and you've got nothing to worry about.

I'm enjoying the freedom of the holidays,

and getting time to spend with Kaitlyn,

and that is probably my favourite part, spending time with her.

Thank you.

I've managed to convince Kaitlyn to come to the music department's show.

I really hope I don't embarrass myself too much.

Everybody should be coming on.

It'd be nice if the cast were awake(!)

We've gotten to the finals, and it's out of all of Scotland,

so we've done pretty well to get here, being one of the top

four in the whole of Scotland, which is pretty good in itself.

Winning would obviously be great,

but I don't think it will bother me too much.

It probably will, but... SHE LAUGHS

If we don't win, then we don't win.

'This rehearsal will give us an idea of how it will be tonight.'

What do you mean, "this type of thing"?

It's not you, Lily.

-You're too...

-What?

I'm too...what, Barry?

Don't laugh at her!

You're too nice.

And what did YOU say?

Get out!

Sorry, what?

THEY ALL LAUGH Get out! Get out!

We're all pretty nervous, I know I am.

But hopefully it will come together

before the actual performance.

Usually the adrenaline makes it a lot easier.

Right, are we ready?

Yeah.

What do you mean, "this kind of thing"?

It's not you, Lily.

You're too...

What? I'm too...what, Barry?

You're too nice.

'This is my first time doing a lead role,

'and I'm really enjoying it.'

-Get out.

-What?

-GET OUT!

Having a chance to show, I guess, what I can do to important people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we saw four plays, all terrifically worthy in their own way,

but there can be only one winner,

and the winner was Hard To Swallow...

SCREAMING AND APPLAUSE

I'm not too disappointed.

Pretty disappointed, but I'm not too disappointed.

SHE LAUGHS

In amongst all the rejection and kind of losing,

it's still amazing,

and I still want to be able to do this for the rest of my life,

cos I know that acting, any profession like that,

you have to be faced with criticism and rejection, and this is just

the first time it's happened, so I guess I just have to get used to it.

This is going to be amazing because now the whole world is going to see

how amazing Wick Academy is, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Unless they lose, then I'm denying everything.

Here we go.

Rain's on.

It's a typical day for a football match, bucketing rain.

It's local people, you know all of them, you know

the players as well, that's the good bit.

I think it's just the sense of a community

coming together behind these 11 people.

WHISTLE BLOWS

WHISTLE BLOWS

With a disability,

you always kind of have that little moment where you go to your...

As my brother would call it, a dark place, your dark place.

But it could've been a heck of a lot worse.

And that's what you've got to think, you've got to focus on that -

it could've been worse.

And I think I'm blessed to be able to do that, even though

this doesn't work, this does, these do, kind of, and this does.

My goodness, this does!

Aw!

-Yes!

-Yes!

-Yes!

THEY CHEER

Yes!

-Glad you've got your seat belt on?

-Yes.

Seeing your local team score, I think in any sport,

or do well in any sport, is one of the best feelings you can have.

You're so happy that you may win.

I don't think we did, which I was gutted about.

We drew. Well, robbed. HE LAUGHS

'I ain't about to let anything beat me.

'And that's the attitude that was instilled in me.'

You cannot let negativity bring you down the whole time,

you've got to get up and focus on the positive and just attack it.

Life isn't coming for me, I'm coming for it,

and I'm coming for it as hard as I can.

This is my not-so-beautiful 125cc bike.

Didn't pay very much for it - there's little bits and pieces to do.

I noticed your clutch cable's got a few cracks in it.

It's better getting it replaced, especially up here,

because the cracks will get water in there

and your clutch cable will snap as you're riding.

And it's not fun when that goes.

It's not a bad size for you. Not a bad size.

It's just good to have your own bike, and know that you're just getting

closer and closer to getting a full licence

and being able to go places yourself.

It does mean I'm going to have to really get my bike fixed now.

Get one of them back on the road again, we can actually go out.

And I'm looking forward to that.

Just a bit of bonding time, a bit of fun.

This won't be the final look of the bike, I'll clean her up a bit,

put flames on the side, make it go faster!

Go-faster stripes!

What experience do you have on a bike?

Not too much, the last time I was on one, I was 12

-and in a field, so not too much.

-OK.

'This is where I'm going to go for my first proper bike lesson.

'Stevie, the instructor, is taking me.

'He also taught my dad how to ride bikes.'

OK, when you're ready. That's fine.

That's fine.

That's fine, yeah.

Just come forward to me. OK.

Put the clutch in, put the clutch in.

You must mind the clutch. Start her up again.

OK, good.

Stop there again.

OK, not too sharp.

OK.

OK, just stop there again.

Excellent, really good.

I'm looking forward to being able to go to places I want to go when I want

to go to them so I don't have to rely on buses or my parents, don't

have to plan around what they're doing, or what time the buses are.

Getting my licence is a step forward to adulthood

and closer to my own independence.

-There you go.

-Not funny. Do you know how unfunny you are?

It's our production of We Will Rock You,

this year's school musical. We've not done one in so many years.

We Will Rock You is Queen, the musical,

it's Queen's greatest hits all put behind a storyline.

# I got to be cool

# Relaxed

# Get hip

# Get on my track

-# Take a back seat

-Hitch-hike

# And take a long ride on my motorbike

# Until I'm ready

# Crazy little thing called love

-QUEEN:

-# This thing

-This thing

-Called love

-# It cries

-Like a baby

-In a cradle all night... #

'Crazy Little Thing Called Love, it's a great song

'about how love is sort of... I think it's sort of...part of life.

# There goes my baby... #

'My year in, let's call it romantic life, has been a bit...

'strange and disconnected.

'That song speaks a lot about it.

'I would like to think that some day'

a relationship or love will inspire me to write a proper song.

# Nothing really matters

# To me... #

I feel like a lot is going on in my teenage years.

Looking back in 10, 15 years, it'll be something

I remember, because I'm spending time with people that I love,

doing things that I love doing.

ALL: # Any way the wind blows. #

-Well done, Gregor!

-Thank you, all, well done!

'I'm going to be doing my very first solo on the hill, which is

'Bishop Hill up there.'

I'm just putting a parachute on,

obviously it's an emergency piece of equipment, and you're always

taught how to use it and you know how to bail out if you need to.

At this point, I just sort of take myself through it, the launch,

what could go wrong, all those things, so you're planning ahead.

Instruments, that all looks normal, no cracks or abnormalities.

Trim looks fine. Eventualities...

in the case of a launch failure...lower the nose

to recover your altitude and if possible, land ahead.

Approach speed minimum of 55 knots going up to 60.

OK.

My canopy.

OK, so just take a moment to think about your cable break options.

-Sure.

-OK?

-Cool.

-Good.

'Launch and landing, they're the most dangerous parts of the flight.

'All the time you're making sure your wings are level, you're

'making sure that in the event of a launch failure you know what to do.

'It's a great feeling just to know that people that are experienced

'and know a lot about this trust me enough that they can give me

'an entire aeroplane and say,

'"Yeah you can go and do what you want with it."

'Until you go solo, you sort of

'don't believe it's ever going to happen, that is a big milestone.

'Everything just feels like

'it's going forward at a really fast pace, cos it is, really.

'I feel it's good having the knowledge that I can be responsible,

'I can be self-sufficient, and I can be independent,

'before I actually go into the adult world wherever I go in that.'