Bandar Seri Begawan - How can you distinguish yourself from others?

That was the question posed by our very own "Polar Girl", Dk Najibah Eradah or Era, during a motivational talk in front of students and lecturers from the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE) that was held on the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) campus, yesterday.

"You have to stand out from the others and leave a mark on someone's life, be it for the purpose of educational, work and even our everyday lives," she said.

Era, now a core member of the Brunei Adventure Recreation Association (BARA), urged Brunei students to go outside their "comfort zone" and set up their own goals in life to ensure those goals are achievable through their own efforts.

As the first Brunei woman to ski to the South Pole, Era is quickly gaining the reputation as one of Brunei's leading explorers.

She is set to achieve this remarkable feat at the tender age of 26 during her Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition in January 2010, making her the youngest Bruneian to do so.

Era is scheduled to depart for the United Kingdom on October 31, 2009 and will rendezvous with her teammates from eight countries to take a first aid course. A press conference will be held there the following day.

On November 5, the team will then take a flight to Spain for lansit and continue on their journey to Punta Arenas, Chile, the. world's southernmost city.

The team will then wait in Punta Arenas for the weather conditions to stabilise for the next leg of their journey to Patriot H. Is Camp, the only private camp in Antarctica which will serve as a primary site of accommodation before the start of the expedition to the South Pole.

"From Punta Arenas, we will use a Russian cargo plane to fly across the notorious section of the Southern Ocean in approximately six hours," she said during an interview with-the Bulletin.

"But it all depends on the weather conditions. Some explorers had to wait for as long as two weeks at Punta Areans in the pastjust to wait for the weather to stabilise, but our team has determined that we may only have to wait for two or three days and depart for the camp on November 12."

Upon reaching Patriot Hills, the team coordinator will organise a mini-expedition to enable the team members to acclimatise in extremely low temperatures.

The South Pole is situated about 2,700 metres (9,000 feet) above 'sea level and the winds flow from it over thousands of miles down to the coast. The winds pick up speed along the way, and the colder air masses to form near-hurricane force winds that blow for days on end.

"One can suffpr from a 'Polar Shock' due to the low temperatures in Antarctica, and this may lead to the discontinuing of their expedition," Era said.

"But all of us have been prepared for this, mentally and physically. In order to counter such shocks, visualisation techniques have been taught to us during our trainigg in New Zealand," she added.

Era's bid to become the First Brunei 'Woman to ski to the South Pole was welcomed by women's clubs such as the Women's Council and the Royal Brunei Technical Services Ladies Club.

In previous interviews with the Bulletin, Era shared her excitement and apprehension towards the expedition. Now with a week to go before the Oct 31 departure, she said she had an overwhelming sense of "relief'.

According to Era, the most daunting part of the whole expedition was the series of preparations during the initial stages.

"With all that out of the way, I feel more determined and focused now," she said.

"I'm visualising that I am there and I know we can reach our goals to reach our destination."

SAT phones will be used as a mode of continuous communication between the team members and the base camp in Patriot Hills for the "900 km in 40 days" skiing journey.

"We are also going to post daily updates on the official websites until the day we reach the geographic South Pole," Era added.

The expedition has received a huge amount of international print and TV media coverage in the team members' respective countries and the UK in particular. After the expedition, the women hope to churn out a book and a documentary of the Expedition to the South Pole.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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