The value of working on a Saturday

When I was driving to work this morning for our Open Day, I remembered when I - as a teenager - was planning my own visits to universities. I was the first in my family to go on to higher education & nobody really knew what to do so I figured it out on my own. As is my way, I picked universities that couldn’t be further apart! And I took myself off to Stirling and Kent by coach, and to the University of Birmingham by bus. On my own. I remember the nerves, the trepidation and, yes, the fear. Was I good enough? Would they laugh at me? Would everyone be posh? I was just a girl from a council estate, who was I thinking I could get a degree and do something with my life?

So, on my drive to work today I actually felt what people coming to our Open Day today might have felt and it was very humbling. And it really brought home to me the value of what we do at the university - & in the main, that’s the value that we, as staff, offer those visitors that all get up in the morning and take the time and make the effort to come & see what life at our university is like no matter the weather.

When companies talk about strategy and values, it’s lovely, but the real value is in the staff who get up on a Saturday after the working week and make it happen, and the value of the people who make time to come and meet us.

And today, not only did I meet people like me who turned up on their own, nervous about trying to sort out their futures single handedly, but I spoke to several parents who were also full of dread about watching their children grow and leaving the nest, worrying about who they would become & what their lives might be like when they set them out on the road to adulthood. And what it would feel like to be left behind as a parent.?

Today we had people visit us from as far away as Morecambe! And that’s a significant journey for anyone.?

But all in all, it’s amazing to be part of that journey. To follow our students from Open Day through to Graduation has been a great privilege for me … and is always a pleasure.?

And I also got to stroke a wolf today which was a bonus!

Never underestimate the value of what you do at work, and when you think about how that experience could potentially change the course of lives, it makes the sore feet and the early Saturday start worth it.

Although sometimes it might not feel like it, we are a big, strong pack and we work better together.

Now that not only has real value. That's invaluable.