Semester 1 of my first year in the teaching journey could be summed up like this: late nights trying to untangle the web of Harvard referencing; dabbling in a fifth language to add to my repertoire (hablo inglés, francés, alemán, holandés y un poco español); trying not to rub in the fact that home-cooked meals are five-star compared to the pot-noodle staple diet of other course mates; enjoying a daily view of the Tay from Dudhope Park on my way to uni; joining too many societies and loving every minute of them (apart from when I squeaked very loudly one evening in Concert Band…why do I play an instrument again?); frantically trying to install What’s App without a phone to arrange group meetings (OK, I really was 10 years behind the times but be proud of me, I bought a phone and just got SnapChat last week!); appreciating the Values module and instigating interesting discussions at my family dinner table and the list could go on. Looking back now, everything has been a learning experience and all led up to that absolutely rewarding moment when a 10-year-old came over to a certain Miss Scott at break, handed her a penguin drawn on the back of an old Maths sheet and commented: “Your lessons are always fun and interesting”! Remembering that puts all the worries and first-time university student anxieties into the right perspective – they were all worth it for placement!
