Humans of Pembroke - Wanne, Christopher, Jan & Myfanwy
If you would like to feature in the Humans of Pembroke blog about life under lockdown, please complete this (very!) short online form: https://forms.gle/myZbFYLMArbvPb8e9
Dr Wanne Kromdijk, Fellow
I am a group leader at Plant Sciences and have been at Pembroke as a fellow for almost 2 years now. In a previous stint in Cambridge, I was a grad student at Clare.
What do you like most about Pembroke?
Lunchtime food and the gardens. I work just opposite the college and often come over around noon for some food and a chat, or just to relax a bit in the gardens.
How have you been spending your time in lockdown?
I've been trying to keep my team of wet-lab researchers engaged and motivated, while picking up homeschooling of our two primary schoolers as a part-time career. Also became pretty decent in bread-baking...
What are you most looking forward to when this situation is over?
Seeing family and friends in person, instead of via a Zoom meeting.
Christopher Griffin, MPhil Student
My name is Christopher Griffin, and I am currently studying for an MPhil in Modern and Contemporary Literature in the English Faculty.
How has the lockdown affected you?
I’ve been lucky to be able to stay in Pembroke since the lockdown started. It’s been a fantastic help to get lunch and dinner in College. The catering staff have been absolutely wonderful. They’ve been so smiley and helpful and kind, which is lovely when you’ve been cooped up all day, reading about political theory and literature. The Porters have also been great.
I had an essay due in early April, but since then, I’ve been concentrating on my dissertation, which focuses on the Scottish author and Makar, Jackie Kay. Her prose works are fixated on secrets and secrecy, and I’m looking at how her relationship with secrets and secrecy changes over time.
Working in contemporary fiction means that I don’t have to worry about access to archives. I was able to take out library books before the lockdown, and coupled with available online resources, I’ve got pretty much everything I need.
During my time at Pembroke, I’ve generally kept to myself and focused on my work. However, spending most of the time in the same room has been challenging. I’m usually not a fan of study rooms as I find them quite distracting, but I have taken part in some Zoom study sessions with members of my MPhil course. They run from 9am to 1pm, and every so often, people call for a break and a chat, which has been great.
The Faculty of English has pushed back the deadline for my dissertation, to 29th June. The word count has also been reduced, from 12,000-15,000 to 10,000-12,000. The faculty has also asked that when we submit our dissertation, we also provide 500 words showing how the crisis has affected us so that they can take that into consideration when they mark our work.
What have you been doing outside of work?
I’ve been out running a lot. I’m a long-distance runner, so I had to stick to shorter distances until restrictions were eased earlier this month.
I’ve been volunteering at Cambridge City Foodbank. I'm based in the warehouse, making up food parcels, cataloguing donations, getting them arranged by dates and packaging up crates to be sent out to other smaller satellite community services and foodbank services. It’s been good to be able to help people during the pandemic. I’ve also been keeping in touch with my family. My mum’s a barber, so she’s been giving me tips on how to trim my hair.
I’ve also regularly WhatsApped my brother, who’s a first-year undergrad. Although people say your first year at university doesn’t matter, it helps to lay the groundwork for the remaining two years and it sets your work ethic in place. It’s also difficult missing out on those university experiences that we were able to take for granted.
Beyond Pembroke?
I’ve been accepted onto two PhD courses next year, so I need to choose which one I’m going to take up. Knowing what I’m doing next year is a great relief, even if no one’s sure what the next academic year will look like.
Any tips for other students trying to work from home?
Have some structure to your day. Start by jotting down a to-do list on a sticky note, or something. Also, recognise that you can take breaks. Looking after yourself is really important.
Jan Brighting, College Nurse
Have some structure to your day. Start by jotting down a to-do list on a sticky note, or something. Also, recognise that you can take breaks. Looking after yourself is really important.
I have had the privilege of working at Pembroke as the College Nurse for the last 13 years, by far the longest time I have stayed in a job, and it has by far been the most challenging, varied, scary but heartwarming experience, every day is different and unexpected, some days are exhausting, some are uplifting, some are lots of fun.
What do you like most about Pembroke?
I love the sense of purpose that everyone shares, both staff and students. I love the generosity and trust that students place in me and the camaraderie that I really do feel is unique to college life. I love the variety of each day, and the rhythm of the terms, the opportunity to put all of my skills and experience to help and support students, and I love that I’m not stuck in an office all day!
How have you been spending your time in lockdown?
Well, this bit is unusual. Having 4 grown-up children successfully fledged, I moved to a small almost derelict cottage in a village 9 miles from Pembroke, spent years renovating it, only to have my youngest son return with my grandsons who many of you will have met over the years. Frankie is 11 and Jesse is 5. We also have two goldfish, an ageing grumpy dog and a new English springer puppy (Hunter). So my day used to be rushing to get the boys to school, the dog walked and spending absurd amounts of time in traffic getting to and from work.
Now I unsuccessfully attempt homeschooling whilst doing Zoom and Team meetings, dealing with emails, as many as ever, making calls to students and doing my best to support the COVID team as the liaison nurse for the University. Of course, squabbles always break out just as I unmute myself, so I then have to confiscate hammers and other dangerous weapons and bribe silence with promises of treats. None of which are ever healthy! Such is life in lockdown.
We always have a long walk with the dogs after the ubiquitous lunch of baked beans on toast, for my sanity and their survival. The hope is to tire them all out and get a few hours of peace and quiet to get on with work. It sometimes works! I haven’t yet learnt a new language, played my clarinet or mastered Photoshop. I sadly do know the Pokemon Go tune off by heart. I catch up with family and friends and tasks that have built up over the day when the boys are in bed. They don’t want to go back to school, I, on the other hand, will be first in the queue at the school gates!
What are you most looking forward to when this situation is over?
Just being able to see friends and family and to be back in my lovely surgery with all the old familiar faces! I popped into college last week to collect a printer and mail and it made me sad and happy in equal measure. Sad that we all aren’t there and happy just to be there and imagine a time when we will all be back. I’m looking forward to lunch! I will never take the fantastic food for granted again! So fed up now with cooking, baking rapidly lost its appeal!
Anything else you would like to say?
This is such a tough call for each and every one of us in some way or another. There have been lessons to learn about how we lead our lives, and I know we will be more appreciative of what is really important to us. I hope we all slow down a bit and stop rushing through life as if it’s a race. There has been so much kindness and consideration towards others and I really hope that generosity of spirit endures.
Dr Myfanwy Hill, Postdoctoral Research Associate
My name is Myfanwy, I’m currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) at Pembroke and I did my PhD here as a graduate student.
What do you like most about Pembroke?
The thing I miss most is the Graduate Parlour. Being able to drop in, have a coffee and a chat with people, maybe getting some work done in the study room or the Bat Cave, and most of all, the often bizarre/ridiculous/hilarious conversations which seem to occur with other GP members.
How have you been spending your time in lockdown?
Initially, I started off working from home, but I’ve now been transferred to working in the Cambridge COVID testing centre where we process the swabs from people who are on the front lines or having to isolate due to symptoms. I’m also still doing quite a bit of teaching and having to quickly adapt to giving supervisions online!
What are you most looking forward to when this situation is over?
Hugs! I’ve seen a few fellow Valencians around Cambridge whilst at the supermarket etc and it’s been so lovely to see a familiar face, but I can’t wait to be able to hug my friends! It’ll be great to all squish together on a sofa in the GP and watch a film or sit at a table together in a beer garden, or just generally be close to each other again.
Anything else you would like to say?
I’m writing thy is whilst on my lunch break at the testing centre, the thing that’s really keeping me going today is the thought that this weekend I’m hosting a quiz for some of the undergraduates I used to supervise last year. They asked me to be quiz master and I’m really looking forward to seeing them all and doing something fun with them.
*Update* the quiz was an amazing success, my favourite round was ‘name that pig’ - a picture round dedicated to the likes of Babe, The Sheepig, Peppa, Piglet and co. The undergraduates I supervise are medics and vets, their teaching and exams have been quite disrupted with everything that is going on, and I couldn’t be prouder of each and every single one of them. I'm very lucky to teach them.
Read last week's blog, featuring the Master, PhD student Cristina and Schools Liaison Officer Libby here.
Images: Dr Wanne Kromdijk, Hunter the springer spaniel puppy, Dr Myfanwy Hill