About

I never know what to write in these things.

I’m 24, female, graduated with a 2:1 in Archaeology a few years ago and since then have been a waitress, barmaid, bookseller and EFL teacher. Yep, can’t really decide what I want to do. I’m a prolific university drop-out. I went to Greenwich right after sixth form, hated it and dropped out a few weeks in. Then I went to Exeter and completed my undergraduate degree. Took a year out, waitressed etc and went back to postgraduate study on a whim, to do Medieval History in Durham. I hated it. The city was cold, far away from my friends and family, didn’t understand a word anyone was saying, I felt completely unsupported in my degree programme and spent a week crying on the phone to my mum before I decided it really wasn’t for me and left.

I then worked in a bookstore for a while and really enjoyed it, but felt a little restricted. Working in retail is hard and I don’t think I have the temperament for it, like waitressing, I did it for a while, but I fail at waitressing. I am not nice to rude customers, I want to smack them in the face. Watching my co-workers deal with it, suggested to me that a career in the customer service industry maybe wasn’t for me.

Next, I did a CELTA qualification in January 2011, worked at that for a while, culminating in a summer camp teaching a variety of nationalities. It was hard and by the last week, I was struggling to retain control of my class of chinese children to such an extent that we gave up and spent the last few days chatting and playing. I guess at least they learnt some english, but I still failed. Up until this point I had vague ideas about doing a PGCE. Not anymore. If you don’t have the patience for waitressing, you’re unlikely to be much good at teaching. However, I did really enjoy teaching EFL to adults and I was good at it, so that might be something I do in the future.

Anyway, that brings us to now. Summer camp is over, I’ve drifted away from the teaching idea and have made the decision to go back to University, again. I want to do a Masters in Heritage Management/Conservation with the aim of working in the Heritage field. Maybe managing heritage sites or working in Archaeology. I’m not sure, but ever since I was a child, I’ve been obsessed with history, books, museums, heritage sites, everything. I’ve always been scared about following this dream, because I wasn’t sure where exactly I was going, I’m still not. If the last few years have taught me anything though, its to follow your dreams, do what excites you. Who knows where I’ll be in a year, two years… As long as I’m happy, healthy and doing something I love, who cares.