In this special bonus episode student hosts Nesta and Alex speak to Senior Development and Alumni Relations Officer, Samantha Evans and her recent husband, Matt Evans, who share their story around meeting at university and how you can keep in touch after graduation.
In this special bonus episode student hosts Nesta and Alex speak to Senior Development and Alumni Relations Officer, Samantha Evans and her recent husband, Matt Evans, who share their story around meeting at university and how you can keep in touch after graduation.
Welcome to the Student Connect podcast, a podcast where we share our experiences of university that helped to shape us. This podcast is created in association with Staffordshire University and hosted by our Student Communications Ambassador Team. It's a student led podcast which shares the experiences of students progressing through university education and inviting experts from a variety of life topics. Along the way, we will endeavor to share our own stories and sometimes too honest to help educate and support those who may also be going through similar things. Where your hosts, Nesta and Alex so what have you been up to since we've. I feel like I'm a new woman since the last podcast. Like, all of my deadlines are gone. Oh, my final term. I'm like, I don't know if you can hear it in my voice if you go back and listen to the other. I'm like, so stressed. But I'm like, It's good. I have an exhibition in Wedgwood. Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We did the sustainability project with a group from my course, and we had, like, this big presentation. And let me speak about that last time. So, yeah. Yeah. So it's all good, it's all set up. It's there for another month. If you want to check it out. Okay. But yeah. And then the degree show has both opened and closed. Um, and yeah, it's just like, oh. That's literally I was, like, failing in the last two. It's good. It's so good because I'm just like the two. Prior to that that we recorded, I was like, just before submitting your thesis. So I was like, up all night, like, eating terribly. And then since then, it's like flipped. So basically thesis always stress gone. Everything's moving forward and it's like, Yeah, yeah. Did you say New Place? Felix Yeah, yeah. Well, and I also had a birthday. Oh, this past weekend. Yep. So I am now on the list. Thank you. Don't know if. I'm not on the. On the other side of 30, so. Well I am, I'm at the beginning of 30. I am 30. Everybody wants to sort of like get upset about that. But at the same time, you have to sort of rejoice and say like. Honestly, like. At least you reached 30 some people don't. You know what I mean? Yeah, honestly. Like, it's I was a bit worried. Like, it's one of those things where it's like it is such a big people have made it out to be such a big number. They're like, Oh, like it's adulthood. And, like, this is what you're really like. And, but, like, honestly, like, coming here, doing, like, the, the ceramics cause, like, meeting all the people I have. Like, it's just made it such a, such a better experience. And like, I'm excited for what's going to happen next. And so I think, you know, it all kind of depends on your mindset and you like mind mindset and you kind of just have to I couldn't be like, you know, like I'm 30. What's next? You know? Yeah, yeah. So yeah. And I feel like too, like there's the whole stigma of you have to, like, have your life figured out before you reach, you know, any certain age. But like there's so many people who didn't hit their stride until they were a lot later in life. Yeah. Yeah. And like it, you know, it was it's sometimes you just got to, you know, you can't really focus on the past and you just have to look forward. Yeah, completely. Because it's like, regardless of how you feel about what you're doing, you're sort of gathering and collecting experiences. They shaping you. And then if you are a little bit further, um, by the time you start to choose what you're going to do, you've already got a bunch of accolades and different things underneath you which just help you execute really fast and clean. Yeah, this is like building it up over a long period of time. So I think it's like regardless of what anybody says about age or anything, you have like ability and like that's the main thing. So this episode we're looking ahead to when we are alumni of staff Sydney and the relationships we built while we're here we are. So please welcome to alumni alumnus. Alumni. Is there a player? I wouldn't know. Alumni? Alumni is the plural alumni. Thank you. Singular. So you can be an alumna and an alumnus and a group is an alumni. Okay. Group of alumni, I guess. Okay. Okay. So. Female. An alumnus. Okay. Wow. Oh, okay. Things you didn't think you'd learn on the student connect part. Something every day. There is. Something every. Day. So. So without further ado, let's introduce our our guests which are recently married couple. So if you'll go introduce yourselves. Sure. My name is Matthew Evans. I am a technical instructor. I work in the media center and I recently married this person to my right. So I am Samantha Evans and that is the first time I've got that right. I am the senior development and alumni relations officer for Staffordshire University and you are right, we are both alumni of staffs and I am class of 2009. I'm class of 2008. So technically here at the same time. But yeah. Yeah, not. 100% sure whether we met each other whilst here. Okay. Oh, so you've since been in the roles? No. Okay, so we did. We got together. It was my final year. 2009. And then you technically graduated at that point, but our friendship circles crossed over quite a bit, so we are adamant that we had to have seen each other in the lobby. So there's the phrase love at first sight. Oh, well, it's not. Yeah, it's not. Yeah, true for us. But our Venn diagram of social network that we have does crossover. But we had never met until a chance meeting with two of our mutual friends. And when they were talking, Sam and I got talking and the rest is history. They say, Oh. Very cute. And yeah, that's sweet and that's. Really gosh. Gosh, I so I was just wondering, married for love or married for finance, because I know there's a big difference that luck if it was me, I'll be getting married. I'll be getting married. So it's not like preferential rates on a mortgage. Yeah. So yeah. So it's the sort of question of do you believe in like the married thing because you are, you are like in love and you want to get married or just marriage is the principle to make things easier for you? Is that the question you're asking? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, because it's there's usually somebody who'll be like, no, keep in. I'll give you my last name. Did it. Did it. So it's like you can tell that like, I don't know. It's like there's a contingency in mind type of thing. Okay, so. Do. Well. Nestor, how are you doing? It is a it is a pretty, pretty big question. Yeah. Because. Well well, ultimately I'd say yes, it was for love. It took 11 years for me to ask. Okay. Because not because I believe that, you know, I wasn't sure. Of course I knew from, you know, day two, but financial reasons of me, you know, being able to get a ring and you know, we did other things first. We had our holidays, we bought a house. We we've done all the sort of life. You bought a house before you got married. Yeah. So it's definitely not for the finances, the death. Well, the crossing of the threshold was a unique experience because can we kind of already done that? And then when we got married, we crossed the threshold again and we each took turns carrying each other across the threshold video to prove it. We'll show you. But no, not financial reasons, I'd say. No, certainly not. It just, you know, I proposed and then COVID hit. So she had to wait another two years. So unlucky. It was quite funny because when we bought the house, as you told, to get a well. So these are the things that you know and I guess post student life when you become a fully fledged adult and you need to go find a more adult here, adult to go and ask the question. And one of the things we had to get was a will and obviously we weren't married at the time and the woman sat in front of us and just looks him dead in the eye. It's like, So are you planning on marrying her. Looking? Yeah, good question. Blood has drained from my face. I'm going to be professional about it. Well, yes, I'm signing up for this. But it still wasn't the answer then. You know, we do. I think you've been in our house eight years now. Must be thereabouts. Yeah, it was a good five years remortgage for. That's really good though, because at least you know you've stood the test of time prior to your mean because I don't know I suppose I am sometimes a when people live together does is takes like a couple of months and then everything sort of dissolves so like been like sort of eight, ten, 11 years. That's that's yeah. Well uses but you've been quite different to mine because I, I was at home students when I was here. I still lived at home. I didn't have the living with different people. So you're the only other person I've ever lived with. Oh, okay. Really? That's also true. I've moved several times. I am a a child of a military family. So we moved around from station to station. So I've gone from school to school since I was the age of six. Like every three years at least. Yeah. So coming to union and living in halls, meeting a whole bunch of people and you, you learn what you like and you don't like. You have to adapt and cope with it because you can either tidiness or little quirks they have. So with me moving in with Sam almost from the get go, you realize what kind of quirks this person has and how to adapt to it. And Sam was very quick to adapt to mine. My quirks in my regime and I think. Your quirks are quite good there. I will hold my hands up and say that I do not know how to work a washing machine. I still don't know how to work a washing machine. Really. I had to ring him once on a stag do to ask how I put something in the wash. And yeah, so extreme tidiness and my extreme messiness. Hope Island. So opposites attract. Yeah, but. I can't do anything online. I don't do online banking, I don't do online shopping. But if there's anything I need, Sam, I can just organize this done within the trade off. Oh, my goodness. I've never known anyone that takes about six months despite and got a ring for. That. Long to figure out what it was like. What two guys seem trying by train is like the same pat. Yeah. You know, you're right. I have no response to that. That's I would probably say that's another strength because like I know how to do the online shopping thing and got to say that, you. Know, I'm. Yeah, I'm too good online shop. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like good absolute talent. I'm pretty sure the shops love me. But no, actually does it. Every shop has an app where you just sort of they have notifications. They're like, we're having a sale. And and I'm. Like, click on that. And, but it's nice when you say a uni days aligned with each other. Yeah. We just did a podcast on financial responsibility for. So. Let's get into what you guys did at uni. What you studied backgrounds. Yeah, I. Study. I'll go first. I studied media production class 25 to 2008 under the remit of John Holden. Wonderful lecturer. I hope he's doing well out there because he's since left the university. Then a couple of years later, after graduate and doing some work experience and jobs down in London with RDF West. So working on things like Dickinson's Real Deal and X Factor, I was fortunate enough to get a call from a member of staff who was here at the time saying, Would you mind filling in some hours for cover at the media center? Store's a place which I frequented, you know, quite a lot as a student and booked a lot of heads, no doubt about it. So I took the opportunity and then the opportunity turned into contracted hours and contracted. I was turned into full time and for nearly 12 years I've been at the university serving students like myself. So I kind of get that experience of I knew what it was like being a student. So when I'm handing over equipment, I know the things to check for from the student side. So that's my in a nutshell how it's been since 2008. Yeah, that's really cool. That's that's really cool. It's nice when you get the obviously both sides of the service because then obviously that gives you sort of that comprehensive overview and accommodation. So it's having a little bit at the military background. You can imagine that plays in your favor quite much. So there's, there's a bit of a regiment in the stores. Yeah. You have a trip. So as anyone who's had the privilege to look at the back of the media center, they can see it's quite well stocked, well organized, not just to myself. I'd have a really dedicated team who are very similar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, very good. Very good. I know. I'm pretty sure I've met you before in the stores and I'm pretty sure there's never like a time where it's like, Oh no, you'll be absolutely okay if you don't do that risk assessment. All you know. What is your technical instruction for this. That. I didn't want to throw around risk assessment this quick into the podcast, but here we are. You said it. Your risk assessment. Is what about you? So what did you study? So I would say in 2006, 2009, studying advertising and brand management. Okay, cool. I still maintain as the best degree that the University has ever had. And so we had Paul and John were my lecturers and mum and dad and they were absolutely fantastic. Your mum and dad who know you. So, so we called them moments. Ago. And I don't remember which told them this, but John was mum, Paul was dad. Because you knew. Whether or not. Giving. You the stern face was going to be the disappointed face. Yeah, but they were wonderful. I, if I my original choice of where I was going to go for university, I was adamant I wasn't staying local completely out of it. So I'm, I'm from a council estate. I am the first in my family to go to university. I was completely sure that I was going to go. I think it was Chester Leicester or De Mumford. I'm sure it was right. And that was up to my head. And I remember my mum saying to me, Somebody just go, please just go and just go with this stuff. I don't care what you go and just kind of like. And so I did. I tended I think it was an open day or is it taster day, some form of day. And John was here, so mum was here. So John was was having a chat with prospective students and I remember sitting down having a conversation with him and him asking me about what I've been doing, what it was I was thinking of going on to and asking me to think about what brand I would be and what my links would be and why I would choose that. And from that moment fell in love with the course, thought he was absolutely wonderful and signed up. And. Stayed at home much to my actual mum's like probably. And I bless. Her. But that was it. And that's how I got to mind. And I adored my course. And what you will find is that I always say this in my job. So my my current role obviously is developmental. I'm not relations, which means that when a student finishes, when you graduate, you become part of a globally connected alumni community, which is what I help to look after. And you are really never far from a staff salon. Everyone is welcome back to the university and you'll notice that everyone does come. Yeah, yeah. So like you said that, you know, you've you did venture out, you went, you know, tried different things, but something draws you back. And I was exactly the same. So I am graduate ID. I went and worked in marketing for a car run company. I was awful. And then I went to do various other different roles and then ended up back. So I rejoined staff in 2013 pretty much in the role that I'm in now. It looks like iterations of everything that I learned to my degree pulls through. So I took on all things alumni relations, which includes all the social media, all the branding, all the marketing, all the communication, all of those things. That's cool. And that all ties in. So it's, it's been called for. I loved IBM was truly bring back IBM. Again hashtag that sound like. Yeah put it in put it in the comments. So what's the coolest thing you've seen an alumni go on to do? Oh, wow. Okay. So the Mars rover. Oh, it was an alumni help to get back there. So they were engineers as part of that one. And we have a triple Olympian and Olympic rower, triple gold medalist. Cool. So Hodge is. I don't know. I don't know about these things. We love the Alex Scott, too. You will have seen that we can just come to in soccer aid. Yeah yeah. Graduate of SAS. Wow. So the wonderful CEO of Tesco. Okay, that's cool. So it's remembering it's all good stuff. It isn't just after university. So we were officially universities from 92 and then you've got every former iteration that we were before that they're all stuff's alumni. So it doesn't matter whether it was the probably technical days, the college days, the mining colleges that we started off. But yes, that's alumni are awesome. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, they. Do bits that's really impressive though. I didn't, I don't know, kind of feel like there needs to be like I'm like a bit of like a museum. Museum. How old do you think they. Are. And stuff. So Fame. Hall of Fame is. How you that you're joining a museum some. July that sounds really cool I was like yeah. I don't know that is anyone see Black Mirror? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's that museum I absolutely in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you can get me in some of the like the video. Is the glass case. And like a part of it wasn't. That. Yeah. You don't want your life to be like a Black Mirror episode. Hang on. I've never seen it, but. I know the. Episode for the like at least three plus years ago. So yeah. There's three or four on the feels like it was one year and I don't believe that the other years go on to my age. So okay I've decided. I completely disagree because I look three years old. And. I mean three years older than I actually am. Yeah, it's like. Yeah, it was only two years, but somehow we've all aged five, but we don't count. We're just looking older. One We're still younger. We were talking about that earlier because I just turned 30 this past weekend. So I'm inflations. Thank you. I'm like, you know what? I will count it. I'll do, you know, because I know a lot of people are like, oh, you know, we'll take two years off because but I'm like, you know what? I still lived those years. I lived every second of them. Yeah, yeah. And for me, I kind of feel like they were some of the most important years in my life where I am. The sort of the shout was dropped and like I saw things for exactly what they were. This is like before and when everybody is just really active and just going about doing all these different things, but then obviously that time to sort of set, set. But I mean I will say that, that I wouldn't I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those, like because it was sort of that sitting at home thinking like, what am I going to do with my life? I think because I had, you know, I was living back at home with my parents. I had no job. And I was like, like, what am I going to do when things are opening up again? And yeah, I, I applied for stuff I think I'd missed the 2021 deadline. And then I was like, well, I'll just, I'll give myself that time and apply for the 2022. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Yeah. And I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be here. So yeah I. Think, I think loads of good things can come from like when bad things happen, it's like apparently like a recession makes the most millionaires or whatever. And at the same time, like, you know, like a stock or share starts falling, you can guarantee that there's somebody on the stock adoption site that said, you know, I'm going to sell this stock back. It's a later date for a cheaper amount and they make a bunch of money from something going under. So it's sort of just positioning yourself in the best place and then sort of, you know, making the most of whatever happens to you. And I think that's sort of important. That's the best way of saying, yeah, yeah, when you have limited options and not going out, you find yourself open to other things that maybe you weren't going to try to keep too busy doing other stuff. Yeah, you get time to reflect. Do you get time to watch that show that everyone you know? Yeah, I know there's a lot of negatives too to the whole event as it was, but yeah, you do get a chance to reassess and streamline, you know what actually do I value? Yeah. Life. Um, and now as the world is getting back to, quote, unquote, normal as it was, you'd hope that you bring a lot of those things with you and you take a few moments out of your day to reflect and meditate, to think can just go, you know what? Not everything is a rushed put social media down for just a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And carry on. Yeah, yeah. I think it definitely helped to highlight kind of what is important and, and I think to a lot of people like I know there was a ceramic studio that I was a part of back home in my neighborhood. And so many people, after things opened up, were taking like ceramics classes and arts classes because they were like, You know what I've always wanted to do? And I feel like that's like such a, such a cool thing to come out of that is people like exploring those and yes, they just never had time for. Yeah. And I think that that's I feel like that's what, you know, we got to focus on kind of moving forward and you know, yeah, things crazy you know, that we are not crazy but do things like, yeah. This is crazy. You don't go crazy. But like, yeah, just things that you've always wanted to do and never done. Yeah, it's like, why not? Why have you never done it? Because you've been working. I mean. I suppose for some people as well and see like with like setback and like furloughed or the business had liquidated other working for or owned or whatever, they had to sort of pivot and like do something else. And I think that was one of the motivations for everybody trying something new. And so, so many people getting creative in order to sort of make a living and creativity was like one of them is like one of the big ones. I like people to just like started making artwork is probably blood poetry. Painting starts in podcasts and it's really good because it's like people instead of just consuming all day in your spare time, it was like creating as a form of necessity to help stabilize either your physical, mental, you know. Speaking of podcasts, Sam, you're no stranger to a podcast now. I'm no. If you want to tell us a bit about your other podcast, you host your. Rival podcast. Yes, our our direct to rival podcast, not a competition. If we collaborating. Together, you. Know. So yes, I co-hosted the Horizon podcast for the university. And again, that's that is something that as you were just saying, it did come out of the lockdowns. It was an idea that was passed through. So it was you know what, again, but to that part of how what I touch on in my role is so varied. So we do the university magazine to the Friends magazine is done through our department and we were in the planning meeting for that and our head of comments was like, So Sam, he met a lot of interesting people. Wouldn't it be good if and I was like, I wouldn't put too much on as it is, you know, clone me now. Yeah. And then at the same time, guys, he's joined the High Horizon's team, which is an externally funded area that looks at getting young people into higher education. It looks at getting people into into university. And he'd had the same thought. So we had never met each other at this point. He'd had one conversation, his side. I'd vehemently said no on the other side, right. And then we were introduced to each other and we met via teams call because obviously this was when it was still all face to face as a no and so on. My first meeting with him, I got to watch his daughter take her first steps for a team. Oh, terribly cute. Oh. And the Horizon podcast was formed, I guess, because we got on like a house on fire. It was instant connection between the two of us. Both got huge connections of who we speak to. Okay, so again, from myself, they have got a huge pool of alumni connections. Anyway, I know my role as I help to relationship manager with the Honorary Doctors for the University and I have a good relationship with all of the VIPs and stakeholders that we've got. So it was just this this wealth of connections coming together. And our podcast is very similar, to be honest. It's, it's touches on having an interesting conversation with interesting people and some of the themes that always come out of it. And I always tend to be, you know, we've actually we've had alumni on, we've had businesses on and I love this one. And this is for anyone that is soon to be an alumni that seem to graduate and they're not sure on the next steps. Failure. Totally. Okay. Yeah, failure is actually a good thing because it's about Noble. He gets it right 100% of the time and nobody has the perfect next steps. Nobody saw how it was come in. Nobody could have predicted that. Nobody would have known that toilet roll was going to be a hot commodity and so it's it's little things like that. And that comes out from all of them. And it's what you learn from it. It's what you what you decide to do next. But it's also that part of being willing to have a go at things. So trying to see exactly what you said before about looking at how you diversify, what you're doing, what the you know, is it, you know, this isn't working, so how can you change it? What is next? Being open to the opportunities? And that's, I think, are the key themes that comes out of. I think I've learned so much more from my failures in life than like times were, because when you get it right the first time, what do you do? It's like you've gotten it right, okay? You just keep going. But like you learn so much more from your failures because you have to analyze that. You're like, okay, what didn't work? And well, being in the ceramics sort of side of things like nothing ever working like, you know, because I've, I've taught some wheel throwing classes and stuff and like everyone expects to come in and it's like. You know, so from the first, you. Know, it's funny because I've never actually seen that movie. Yeah, I've seen that. I've seen that scene because I'm like, everyone has said this to me and I have to know. And honestly, that scene made me so angry. I'm like, she ruined a complete like it was it was a. And he. Comes in and he he like ruins the piece. I'm like, so now I'm like, I'm not even going to watch the movie just out of spite. But, but, yeah. So everyone comes in and they expect to just be able to like make a bowl or make a cup. And I'm like, I like prepare people. I'm like, you're not going to make anything that you like the first time. And of course, like, you know, I've been doing it for a long time, so like I'll be like do a demo and I and I make it look easy because I know what I'm doing, but I'm like, this took like 12 years of practice. Like, you can't you're not going to be able to do it like and it, like it looks easy because it's, you know, it's anyway. Yeah, it's just, it's funny. It's like I failed so many times. Like I, I'll look back at pieces that I made even my like for because I did four years of undergrad in ceramics. I'll look back at pieces I made my first year and I'm like, I got, I got a good grade in that class. Like. No. So yeah, you just, you learn so much more from failing than succeeding. That's that's why I adore my job because it's, I've got all the knowledge of being a student and going through that. I've got all of them. I went on the trips, went to New York three times. I did all of the experience. I went out the industry, all of all of that is still in my head when I walk around campus and you know, if I go into the Dwight building because that was my building, it's a little nostalgic and it's I love it. But then getting to speak to alums from all the different courses and hearing their their experiences, exactly what you've just said that I'm thinking back of like how did that how did her past. Yeah what happened the different things like that which I love and they're so open and honest. And then the other thing as well and I can't wait to, you know, for the new ones that come through, I'm is it seems to get like ten years after you've graduated and then suddenly people start to confess things to is. Like they still have a library book that they've never returned. On and checked and ceiling tiles for something that they put up there, you know, when they were in first, you know, stealing a plastic bath and putting it on top of a ceramicist head outside of the train station, because all these little bits come out and, oh, nearly burning down like road houses because they accidentally left the incense burning. Their friends thought they died. Then they saw them at the I love this big reunion if you're not dead. Oh, my gosh. Oh, this is the ten year point. Oh, then yeah. Then I. I feel like that's the point. I feel like where you, you, you kind of do start to get in. I thought we were talking about this earlier. Again, Facebook thing. The it's always like, gosh, this was ten years ago. And I feel like that's like like, I don't know, it just comes up and I'm like, some of them, I'm like, Oh, that's a cute moment. And I'm like, No, yeah. A little cringing. In. That. Moment, but. I kind of feel like that cringe is like an indicator that you'd be moving in the right direction. Because if you looked at it and you like that, then you feel like all this dissatisfaction. It's like. Well. You're like, I. Got better since then. So growth. Yeah. If you look back and thought, yeah, that's still cool. Yeah, you're not cool. Yeah. That's what we've. Got there as well. Is that and I don't why this comes from the past few years and that okay in that back and then looking at things the amount of reunion requests I mean okay currently because of that is that part of you're always welcome on campus and it is so we have a couple of them that do that get together every five years and they always let us know when they normally come in the big festivals here. Okay, so they come and that becomes part of what they do and it's it's always a to around and I think I've got like I think three areas at the moment that are requesting to come back next year because they've had this and they might have reconnected, whether it's Facebook memories that have come out. Yeah, yeah. And it's they want to come back oh ASAP. Hopefully they're all able to make it because I know obviously if people are moving away they can go families or whatever or if there's a jubilee and the Robbie Williams cuts that this weekend, it's going to be hard to get to. So definitely yeah. That's I feel like I would much rather have like a reunion so I couldn't find out where it first I kind of like my uni friends that like my I feel like people put a lot of them like high school, maybe not here as much as like in America, but like the high school reunion thing. I don't want to I have like two friends in high school, but I still would get like contact. But like everyone else, I'm like, I don't. I yeah. I don't really don't know. I mean, I guess it would be interesting to see, like, how everyone's changed. Yeah, but I feel like people put so much stock in it. But we're such different people from. From then, I mean, and I feel like if, if, if you're sort of still in that mindset, then that's really. Like maybe, maybe, you know. Yeah, I don't know. It's it's a bit it's a I don't I the reunion thing is weird the. To me faces of reunions have changed because of things like yeah. Where you have them that you've seen, that they've had kids or whatnot. You're like, Oh wait, we have a reunion. I already know that instead of seeing them ten years down the line, you're like, Oh my gosh, you have kids. You of all. People, someone merit who let you do that as well. But I mean, but university is where you make connections for life. That's what I've found. I've got one friend that I had in high school. One. So she's on my bridesmaids. But my my bridesmaids were a perfect example of progression through life. So one was my sister, you know. She stuck with them. Stuck with me. I'm pretty. Sure. Then you had my friend from high school who, you know, I've known her since we were 12. So, you know, that's that's a lifelong friendship. There. My friend from university. So I was with and again, that's a connection made here and that's, you know, lifelong. We don't live near each other, but it's, you know, whenever we see each other, it's like we're always together. And then my adult friend, which sounds very strange, but she is my friend that I made it to the. Door. And and it showed that that progression through. I do think there's something about there is something about the connections you make at university that different places. It's the people that you're with. There's an element to similarity. Well you're in the same generally you're sort of in the same department or you know, so you're, you're, you already have that connection of being interested in the same things, you know. So because I feel like, yeah, I have two friends from like high school, but they were like we had been friends and I think like fourth grade, I don't know, like eight or nine. So like those were like childhood friends that we've, you know, kept in touch with. But I'm sort of in don't you know, in a strange because I'm like here in the UK but like I have friends back in America but like literally all across America. Like, yeah, one of them's out. Move to California, one of them's in Michigan. And I actually don't I don't know where the other one is. I don't know where she's living now. She did she went to school in Pennsylvania, but I think she's moved around. I don't know. She did like research in like Panama and all this stuff. So, like, you know, she's all over the place. But like, I have I have like two childhood friends that are like, like across the country. And then I have one friend from my undergrad who is like a lifelong friend. But like, yeah, it's, it's weird. It's like they're all over the place and everywhere, but I know if we were to get together, it would we would be able to pick up from where we left off. And I feel like that's sort of a special that's a special friendship that you, you know, you've got to keep. I don't know if my memory is just terrible, but I feel like that with like most people, like I just see them and see you yesterday. And I. Think. It's just like brain fog also. But I do tend to like keep my relationships for like like a long time. Like I've still got friends that I met at the first aid nursery, like three years old and then probably speaks to like maybe four or five people from high school. But the weird thing about university was like, none of us really did any mingling until we were all like, right at the end of the past few months, we will be writing a thesis and it's like heavy stress and pressure. So to just bind us together and like we, we lost all ego. It was like it's this humility exercise where we all just feel terrible. We feel like we go fail and we get this done and that we're just, like, helping each other. And and there was no it was like reduced to all the barriers. So I kind of feel like it's that sort of probably like an endorphin release that you get that's on the same level as some of the people is like a chemical mingling, you know, to mean something. It's got to be something to that where. You're all you were all all in that same storm, paddling, rowing the same boat. So you're all going to get through it together? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when you see them again, you're like, how you remember that time we were. Nothing brings people together more than shared trauma. Yeah. Like you didn't get a. Wedding, apparently, because we had enough stuff for them not to sink a ship. I think we of my university friends with Ed and Holly, who is your bridesmaid, the mutual friend of how we met. So she had seen that I did this. I put these. Away. That must've been a good feeling. Yeah. She's like, I made this happen. For. People from holes when they say, Oh. Yeah. So we all lived in the shared accommodation world on yellow representing we did the Doulton dash when the fire alarms went off again. That's one of those stories you get ten years on. We have the doors unlock and you you hustle through, you run through to see if you can make it for you. Get up, but you live together. You share those those mutual traumas, those experiences, those life experiences you get for the first time and you have that common bond. Yeah. And you keep that bond with the friends, you make it uni. Definitely, definitely. I was wondering how, how so obviously if you guys had told the alumni you wedding stuff, how do you keep in contact with them and it's anything other than sort of the new traditional methods of what social media. So it depends which which you've got me where in this personally I'm the you know my connections at uni are Instagram and Facebook. That's generally how I connect with them or text messaging that way. So face time actually, I'll really likes a face name and then obviously you've got WhatsApp groups stuff with you, with yours. This the social media's. But then there is the meetups where at that age where we are starting to get married or have kids and things like that and you're like, Oh my gosh, we have to come visit. And then you make a physical attempt, go see these people that you knew and for even three years of your life was at university. So you grew up with because you're still growing. You never stopped growing. You never stopped learning. But we have, you know, my my, my friendships don't just extend to the people I was at university with. I'm still making friends now with students who are actively here because they will be adults in a couple of years time. They'll be out in the industry and they'll remember the university. They'll remember the people who helped them. Technical remember the academics. And we're pretty good constant in our lives, you know. Yeah, we're here. If they ever want to come back, circle by and see where they used to be. Cool. Stop by, come say hello. And then you get the social media requests and you say, Oh my gosh, they're working on that film now. That's brilliant. You know, I love that love to know that they're out there doing stuff. And when they come back and visit or guest lecture or just, you know, come to say hello, what a feeling. Yeah. So is that the proud parent moment? Like, they've grown a little bit as soon as I. Can remember their names. I know you from somewhere. That's the hard. Part. I know I can do faces. I can do faces. Names to fall into the background. I'm amazing. The face. Yeah. I'm also really good at making you think that I remember your name. Actually say. Fantastic about that is part of the job it is required because it might be 200,000 alumni. Yeah. And it's one of me. So yeah. I was never remembering that many. The official channels you've got obviously because we always do it, we always describe the alumni team and stuff. So it's like that really annoying. Aren't cheering you from the side like full on going for it. You know and that's. What do and it is if we find out about you know if you if you've launched a company you've got married you you know you've done something whatever it is we want to be shouting about that and celebrating with all of the alums and that's why we've got all the various different social media channels and then you've got the website as well. So stuff alumni dot com is a way to globally connect because it is graduates from all over the world going on their what you can network ask questions just just get to know people find a job in some cases because of you know what we found is that our alums tend to look at a CV and they will check where you're from. And if you're from stuff at uni, you go to the top of the pile and that's that is something about the staff family that is very cool. You're going to support your own goals. Yeah. So I think it's it's both sides of doing it, but it's just, it's nice to meet and for mine I get to get a whole new cohort of alumni every July and November. Yeah. Very. Cool to introduce the students through you. Yeah. There's quite often, a few times, you know, where you come in and you say something to me and like, Oh, by the way, this is, this is the missus. And she, she'll be dealing with all you. Once you graduate, she'll keep in touch and then it it happens. You do keep it, you know, you hear stories that so-and-so is made this or they've, you know, like degree show we walking around and saying, oh, this is a student I gave, you know, kid two And they've made this. And you go, Oh my gosh, tell me about that product. And then you find that they've gone on into industry and they're doing some amazing stuff and you're like, Well, that was just a chance meeting, a connection that now has flourished into something where that person is now giving back to the university. That's great stuff. Yeah. We love the university with follow through, but we do have to wrap up. But thank you so much, you guys. This has been such an amazing episode. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, a conversation was great, but thank you guys so much. Thank you for having us. Yeah. And for those of you listening, don't forget to tell us about what you think of the podcast so far, what you'd like to hear if you've any questions. Tag tag stats uni or use the hashtag Student Connect podcast on social media. Thank you for listening. Goodbye. Bye. Viral.