This Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions. I had been invited in November to give a presentation as part of an inclusivity training seminar for staff across the departments of Languages, Education and Health and Social Care. However, on the morning of this engagement, I very sadly had to go and pay my respects to one of my fellow strong non-verbal girls 💛.
When I got the email from Sylvia after coming home from running a dance teacher training session on a cold November night inviting me to take part in this meeting, I practically jumped with excitement! Not only would it be a chance for me to live up to my reputation as a great language student, but it would also provide me with some really early training that I could take forward into my career as a language teacher! Therefore, I didn’t have to think about it too much before I agreed! Even though I got more and more nervous as the meeting drew nearer, I never once thought about changing my mind on participating in this engagement because I knew how valuable my personal experience would be to the academics and how appealing doing this would look on my CV!
When I arrived at the Open University office in Edinburgh, my brain was going at 200 miles an hour! Not only was I extremely nervous about facing a video conference full of important academics, but I was also reeling from the funeral that I had just come from. For some reason which I don’t know, on the mantelpiece in the reception room of the OU office sits a pink stuffed unicorn! As the readers who know me personally will know, unicorns are my favourite animal and pink is my second favourite colour (narrowly beaten by purple) so I tried to focus all my attention on this unicorn in an attempt to slow down my racing mind while I waited for Sylvia to meet me. I had arrived half an hour before I was due to meet Sylvia so I spent quite a lot of time staring meditatively at the unicorn! However, I only truly calmed down when Sylvia came and, after greeting me with a warm embrace, took me to the room where we would be joining the meeting.
I was kicking off the whole meeting! I was told that that was the least nerve-wracking position to be in because apparently, one can get one’s job done quickly and just relax and enjoy the experience, I however did not buy this! To me, going first was a lot of pressure as I would be setting the tone for the whole meeting and although Sylvia would be reading my presentation from a document that I had already prepared, my chest was tightening with nerves as more and more people joined the video call.
After introducing myself as a language student, student buddy and student mentor, I let Sylvia crack on with my presentation. As she read my words, I began to relax and as she detailed my adventures at uni, I felt a strong sense of admiration coming from the screen in front of me! When Sylvia had finished, I was asked a couple of questions before the next part of the meeting got underway to allow me time to type my answers. Even though I had been in tears just a matter of hours before, I began to smile! I smiled because I had gone through with it, because my presentation was very well received and because Prunella’s love of language was discussed at the funeral, so I felt like I had done it for her!
The rest of the meeting was very interesting! Even though I felt like I couldn’t contribute to the topics that especially interested me because I was just a student, I sat back and took everything in! As a student, it was so cool to see the inner workings of my university! Also, as a future language teacher, it was very useful to learn how to support different types of students in their learning. I have already updated my CV with this engagement, and I am really proud of myself and how much my confidence has grown over the recent years!
In conclusion, Prunella was a fully signed-up member of the Strong Girls Club so I feel like not letting her death discourage me from doing this was a fitting tribute to her. Also, I used to be so shy that I didn’t look people in the eye, so doing this was a good piece of evidence for how far I have come!
Eilidh Elizabeth Molly McGrath 💜
In memory of Prunella Kate Hay 💛
15.01.2009-11.01.2025
The Non Verbal Linguist 