On Becoming a University Lecturer
I imagined this place would be grand
With spires, and
Eminent professors with spectacles
And flowing gowns,
Renowned
For their eccentricity and wisdom
I imagined this place would be old
With wooden panelled walls, and
Long quiet corridors
Cold, dusty libraries
And ancient theories
For students to expound
I imagined they would be studious
Reciting Freud and Marx,
And exchanging hypotheses,
Learned discussion,
Mental vision
And a first degree
But I found the place was younger than me
Not a spire in sight, and
Porta cabins with peeling paint
Tutors in jeans
My vision demeaned
By a permeating decadence
Disappointed, I sought out the Union Bar
And found scholars ‘absent’ from classes
Talking about life, science,
And the Arts
Their learned discussion and confident stand
Did my heart good.
Lesley Young
Lesley Young – Writer and Poet
Lesley specialises in helping senior managers in the NHS and not for profit sectors to cope with the challenges they face in bringing about sustainable change. She has also run her own organisational consultancy business since 2010, and is an accredited and experienced life and business coach.
But Lesley is first and foremost a writer and poet and has been writing for more than 30 years. She likes her writing to be of the moment and immediate, which means that she leans mostly towards poetry and short stories. She has been a member of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle for 8 years, where she currently holds the committee role of publicity and website officer.
Lesley is passionate about making a difference. The healing powers of poetry, and the written and spoken word, underpin and feature in Lesley’s work always. She has a growing interest in storytelling and memoir, and has several projects in the pipeline – one of which is to develop her interest in running writing retreats, and the other to publish some of her own writing.
To find out more about Lesley visit: integracoaching.uk.com
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