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I have held a variety of roles in ISLI to date, including Assistant Programme Director for the Pre-sessional English (PSE) programme, and Academic Language and Literacy Liaison (post-graduate) for the Henley Business School. I have also been involved in the digitisation of teaching materials and the maintenance of online learning environments for both the Foundation programme (home students), the Pre-sessional English programme, and the Academic English programme. I am actively involved in the EEDI (Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) committee, as well as the Technology Enhanced Learning community of practice. I also enjoy reviewing written submissions as part of the InForm journal editorial board here at the University.

Over the years, the University has given me the space and support to grow as a professional by offering me a wide variety of roles according to my particular skills and interests. I have mostly been working on full-time contracts at the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, however I have taken part-time contracts too. This flexibility has enabled me to focus on completing my own research for my MA dissertation, while still working and remaining part of ISLI. I appreciated the flexibility with my hours and workload during that busy time.

I am currently studying part-time for my Doctorate in Education (EdD) here at the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, while working full-time at ISLI. It is a great comfort to me to feel secure in the knowledge that ISLI will support me wholeheartedly in this endeavour.

From day one I found my colleagues welcoming and warm towards me. I have always had some great help and guidance whenever I have found any aspect of my role difficult or if I felt I am stuck. In fact, even though I was working in a temporary position, I was given equal opportunities to work on different projects and apply my knowledge and practical experience to my work. My line managers have been very supportive, and, on many occasions, I have been the lead for some projects as well, which boosted my morale and confidence.

My journey at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø has now moved to the next phase. From being made permanent in my role, I have now been promoted and I am delighted to continue being a part of the University.

If you ask me how I would define the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, I will say it is one supportive and inclusive community of people from different cultures – and a world of opportunities to further your personality, skills and career. I look forward to continuing to work on exciting projects, meeting new people and learning something new every day; all being part of this wonderful family called the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.

For example, there are days when I work at home so I can pick up my five-year-old son from school. My electric car cuts down on carbon emissions but unfortunately not on travel time; I still have at least an hour-long commute each way, so being able to work from home on certain days really helps to fit everything in.

There’s a lot of support for doing things differently at the University, and from my mentor and manager. In addition to flexible working, I also benefit from interdisciplinary research interactions through my work with the Centre for Past Climate Change, and I’m co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee in the School of Mathematical, Physical, and Computational Science.

The thing I enjoy most about ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø is the School I work in, both the staff and the students. Everyone is supportive and friendly and will stop to have a chat – and that includes the Head of School. We do our work but we also do have time to catch-up as well. Because I’m the Programmes Director, I also get involved with the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø University Construction Society (RUCS), as well as the University's Ghana Student Society.

I’ve been given the opportunity to grow in what I do, and I think ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø gives everyone that opportunity – you just have to be yourself, and take it. Regardless of where you come from, grasp the opportunity and go with it.