Changing Direction

It’s Been a While..

I’ve been terrible at keeping this blog up to date in recent months and for that I apologise! I sat down to type an update a few weeks ago and the words just wouldn’t come. However, now I have some news, it seems like a good time to update my blog and share with you all what exactly I’ve been up to.

It’s been a year, can you believe it!?

I moved to Cumbria over a year ago now, which is mental! In that time, I’ve moved from pillar to post in terms of living spaces and taken on more responsibility at work as well as starting a degree.

So, let’s go back to April last year where I was flying high regarding my move. I moved into a relatives holiday home and had a 104mile round trip to work each day. Which thankfully given the straight road it wasn’t as terrible as it sounds, apart from the £40 of petrol I was paying every 4 days. I then found a house in May last year and put an offer in, it was accepted within minutes. This put me on track to buying my first home. However, as with all good things, I had to wait… and wait… and wait. I ended up living with one of my colleagues and her family for 8 weeks. This was about 6 weeks longer than either of us had anticipated! I never will be able to thank her enough. But come September, I finally moved into my first home!

It was also September time, that I took on more responsibility at work. I moved up from being the Leisure Assistant and Swimming Teacher to the Leisure Manager and Swimming Teacher. I also took over their social media pages – but that’s a side line (you can find the hotel on Facebook under The Washington Central if you’re really intrigued). Anyway, back to where I was… I found myself with my own house and on a new trajectory at work – I’d never envisaged myself to be running a leisure club, it wasn’t part of my plan, but I welcomed the opportunity and was excited to add a new string to my bow. So now that I was busy with decorating my new home and slotting into my new role at work – what better time to start a degree, right?

Yes! A month later, I started a degree with the Open University with the aim of becoming a PE teacher, because you know why not give myself more tasks to keep on top of? I’m obviously not busy enough!

What led me to a degree at 26?

Well, as a kid my mum told me I would be a teacher when I’m older and for years I told her “no, no, no, you’re wrong I don’t want to work in a school with children all my life,” well it turns out she wasn’t wrong, I was. I do, I absolutely do – and I have Town Close to thank for it. When I left Town Close I was convinced I only wanted to teach swimming, I’ve done my stint in a school, loved it but have now outgrown it, never want to go back… Well, it turns out, you really should never say never. I’ve been out of a school for 2 years now and I miss it like crazy!

I left college at 17, because I didn’t like it. I was bored by education and unenthused for my A Levels, so I didn’t complete them. Instead, I took on several jobs with several swim schools until I landed my job at Town Close and as I’ve said, I loved it. But I felt I’d outgrown it after 5 years I was only ever going to be their swimming teacher there wasn’t anywhere to progress to.

Now I’m a year into my degree and have just submitted my final assignment before moving into my second year. Upon reflection, I don’t know why I didn’t start one earlier. So far I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s not been straightforward and writing academically is never going to be a strength of mine but with every assessment I’ve got better. In my most recent exam I got 97%, so if that’s not progress, I don’t know what is!

Now You’re All Caught Up, What’s My News?

I think it’s safe to say I’ve had a busy year and I’ve learnt some important lessons:
1. Buying a house is not an easy, quick, hassle-free process, but it is totally worth it
2. I should have started my degree sooner
3. I don’t want to be a Leisure Manager; I want to work in a school again

Lets talk about number 3 shall we?
As I said at the beginning of my ramblings here “I’d never envisaged myself to be running a leisure club, it wasn’t part of my plan, but I welcomed the opportunity and was excited to add a new string to my bow”. However, now I’ve done the job for several months I’ve concluded that I don’t like it. I’m not enthused by it, and I don’t think I’m doing my best with it. Which is why I recently applied for a job within a high school and also why I was over the moon to have been successful in getting the job.

Which means not only am I no longer the Leisure Manager at The Washington Central Pool and Gym, but I am going to be working back in a school – and to top it off, the hotel has agreed for me to keep my teaching hours. I am so excited for this change of direction; I’ll be getting the best of both worlds – more experience within a school whilst I finish my degree; and continuing with my swimming teaching career which is not something I’ll ever be ready to give up!