It’s 2am and I've just settled my daughter back to sleep. My daughter is amazing, beautiful, perfect. She is also often a fan of night-time chats and cuddles. Pre-pregnancy if I could have comprehended the various phases of broken sleep that I would come to experience, I doubt I would believe I’d function. But you do. You adapt, you find new routines and new strengths, it all becomes normal, and you have the joy of watching someone grow and change. Before my daughter my world was very different, but right now, everyone’s world is a very, very different place.

The coronavirus crisis has changed for most of us our daily routines, the way in which many of us work, our social interactions, and has reinforced how remarkable our NHS is and the people who are part of it. We are dependent on these people, and the wide variety of key workers helping in different sectors across society. If at the start of 2020 we could have comprehended how different our lives would become, it would be hard to believe. But again, we adapt and learn a new way of living, for however long is necessary.

I paused my studies at the end of 2018 to go on maternity and have just started on one of the last two modules of my diploma. It was a mixed feeling to enrol in the midst of what is going on in the world. When I started my course, I hoped it would improve my knowledge of careers work, better my ability to support students, and to widen my own career options in the future. On the one hand, study could feel a little insignificant right now, when the world is on pause. Just like many people though, students will be facing their own set of uncertainties as a result of the pandemic. Whenever this is over, some will be venturing out into a world where recruitment in sectors they have looked to be part of, will be very different, even if just temporarily. Getting back into the last of my studies will help me feel more equipped to assist students when things may feel more uncertain to them. And as I sit in the middle of the night, cuddling my daughter back to the world of sleep, I also remember the motivation during pregnancy, as I sat typing out assignments, that I was also hopefully equipping myself to better navigate my career in the future, for the sake of my family. It’s good to re-engage with those feelings again.

About the author

Rose Leek is a paid blogger for CLL.

I work in a University Employability & Careers Centre, as part of a Placements team, and am studying the Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Education, Information and Guidance in Higher Education (CEIGHE). I live with my daughter, husband, and two moggies. When not juggling work, home or study, I enjoy walks, cycling, and time outdoors, and starting (and someday finishing) various craft projects.