I'm Not Worthy!

What an awesome day!

Prof. Neil Fowler who was my undergraduate dissertation supervisor had arranged an invitation to a Careers Roadshow at MMU Cheshire for me. When I was a student there, ‘old boys’ who were invited back were bigged-up, especially by the year Head Paul Holmes. In return the old boys always said what a great time they had and how wonderful our course was. We students looked at each other with ‘whateva’ faces on.

Nearly 10 years later I look back and realise that the staff were genuinely proud of their courses and the many successful students that they ‘produced’. I loved my time there and am immensely grateful to Paul for allowing me to study there without me even knowing what a UCAS point was.

First year was really difficult as I'd been out of education for 14 years. Added to that, having to fit in and work with a bunch of 18 year olds was incredibly challenging. When at school, uni' never seemed to be an option for me or my mates. 3 years later walking away from MMU with a first class degree was surreal and I didn't feel worthy.

Talking about not feeling worthy, finding myself on the same stage as such very successful people had me feeling a bit “what am I doing here? There was a senior management consultant with an MBE, a very young 1st team coach of championship football side Doncaster Rovers, a big wig who’s worked at a high level at British Swimming and a top female England cricketer. I rarely get nervous when standing in front of an audience but......

The brief was to speak about our careers, but I preferred to talk about people who have influenced me throughout mine: Darren Smith the triathlon coach, Heiko my German friend and the legend that is Monica Eden. I may know my stuff but these people are artists! Their skills are difficult to define but that’s what makes them stand out from the crowd.

My favourite speaker was Geoff Thompson, a multiple world karate champion in the 80's. A well versed motivational speaker, he’s had an amazing impact in sport, especially within deprived communities. Of course public speaking is a real skill but chatting with him later suggested why he’s very successful. He’s obviously incredibly well informed but also has a ‘burning fire’ behind his eyes, an intensity to suggest he means business. As I begin to understand more about sport politics and governance, for him to do what he’s done as a black man is more remarkable. A top man!

When I got home, I planned to go out running but it’s my season down time (cognitive dissonance at play...I couldn't be bothered) so stupidly checked my work emails instead. The day got better as there was an email from the NHS. No, it wasn't my test results confirming I had the ugly gene! When researching something at work, I found that the NHS stated that pregnant women should not ride a bike due to the risk of falling. The Royal Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggest just being more careful which is far more reasonable and pragmatic. After a polite email, a slightly more strongly worded one and finally one saying “you are wrong, this is why and here are my references” one, they kindly agreed to change their recommendations to the same as the RSOG ones. Success!