I grew up in East Grinstead and went to the University of Sussex to study Molecular Genetics – mainly because I found it interesting rather than with a career in mind. When I was looking at universities, I was choosing between genetics and medieval history! I became well aware that I didn’t want to go into research during my third-year project but I don’t regret studying genetics and still find the subject fascinating.
I’ve always been a techy and creative person. I love learning new systems and was involved in drama throughout primary and secondary school, as well as university. I like a good craft too – I’ve done cross stitch for a long time, and I learnt how to crochet over lockdown. After university, I worked for Lloyds Bank briefly as a temp before joining Tempus Training as one of two administrators organising apprenticeships. This involved a whole variety of things, including an immense amount of time on Excel, which I think put me in good stead for my roles at BSMS.
When I was younger, up until my early teens, I wanted to be an author. I even had a short story published!
What brought me to BSMS was during my time at Tempus, I found that I enjoyed working in education and wanted to try working within a university environment. The Admin Assistant role in the Mayfield (now Watson) team sounded ideal and, fortunately, I was successful. That was back in 2015! Since then, I’ve moved up to Course Coordinator in the same team.
The School Office in Watson has changed a lot since I started. We’ve gone from a team of two to a team of six and moved from one corner of the building to the opposite one. As a team, we organise Modules 101, 201 and 402 Simulated Surgeries, along with a host of other responsibilities that it would take too long to list. Mainly I am involved with Module 201 which has become increasingly complex over the years. Anyone involved in, or even vaguely associated with, Immersion Weeks will be well aware of how complicated they can be!
I think I’m the happiest in my role when I’m able to focus on fitting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. Timetabling the student activities for all four Immersion Weeks in Module 201 is a challenge but seeing it all fit together perfectly at the end is worth it! Especially if the students enjoy the experience.
We’re currently in the lead-up to Immersion Week 3 so that’s my main focus at the moment. That’s swiftly followed by Simulated Surgery 3 and then we’re heading into the timetabling season and requesting all of the teaching rooms we need for the 2023/24 academic year. Meanwhile, the day-to-day module activities continue for 101 and 201. Fortunately, I work in a very supportive team so we work together to make sure we hit our deadlines.
In terms of my future plans, I’m not intending on going anywhere any time soon. I enjoy working at BSMS and with my team in particular. I plan to be involved in the logistical side of developing our modules in the coming years.
My biggest professional achievement is teaching myself to use Microsoft Access and building a functional database.
My biggest challenge personally was being pregnant and having my daughter during the lockdown. I was 12 weeks pregnant in March 2020 so most of my colleagues never saw me even look pregnant! My daughter wasn’t well when she was born which was very difficult for myself and my husband, especially as the condition was undiagnosed for a week following her birth. I ended up living in the hospital with her for two weeks before she was allowed home. She is now, thankfully, happy and healthy but going through that time, during which we could only have very strict visits from outside, was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.
The best piece of advice I would give my younger self would be, don’t be afraid to ask for help – your mental health will thank you for it. Whether in your job or personal life. This is something I am still learning and still not very good at.
The advice I would give to young women who are just starting out in their careers is, attention to detail and resilience will get you a long way. I was once turned down for a job because of the way I looked. Don’t let those people get to you, just focus on showing them who they missed out on.