As a teenager…

I found a circle of friends who helped me escape a social set I hadn’t felt comfortable or confident in. I did well in the subjects I enjoyed at school but anything I found difficult or dull I disengaged from and so I was often in trouble for not doing my homework or getting poor marks. This made school life stressful on an almost daily basis and I didn’t even think about asking for any help.

After school…

I headed to Newcastle to complete a degree but I picked the wrong course and had to switch to something else after a year. Looking back I can see I often made choices because they fit with what the people around me were doing. Throughout school and university I had always been a waitress and it was this career that helped launch a brilliant time in life where I secured a job in Washington, DC and spent three years working in a high-end hospitality whilst living in a house with a group of fellow Brits who were doing the same. When my visa ran out I headed to London and worked in events management travelling throughout Europe organising academic conferences. Through this work I realised I became interested in academia again and headed back up north to Lancashire to complete my teacher training qualification which opened a whole new set of doors.

Now I’m…

A lecturer and researcher at the University of Cumbria. I teach on the Working with Children and Families degree programme and deliver a range of modules including Social and Political Influences on Practice, Research Methods and Crime and Conflict. I definitely took the scenic route to get to where I am now which I think helped me learn much more along the way than if it had all unfolded without any bumps in the road.