Jen Ramm interviewed Tammy Banks, former Peterborough College student, about her success.
It’s so interesting to see all that you've been through and how you've overcome it. So this plaque you're holding, how does it feel to come back to the college after all those years and be holding that and be standing where you were after everything you've achieved and kind of give back with the plaque in a way, how does that feel?
It feels a little bit surreal and quite overwhelming. Yeah, my daughter just actually said to me, you know? Imagine that 16-year-old. Forward nearly 30 years and see that actually you know, you've got a plaque on the outside of the college that you went to. And I'm not sure that there are really any words. It is just quite overwhelming. I'm definitely proud of it, but what I said in there is true. It doesn't feel like I've done anything big or anything special. It feels like, actually, I've just kept showing up every day, no matter how hard it is and just kept showing up and kept on and kept going. I'm proud of it, but equally, I can't say that I think that I'm any better than anybody else because I don't think that.
Just showing up, that was one of your kind of key mantras for yourself. What kind of advice would you give to students at college and university who are going through tough times but still want to find a way through it?
Sometimes it's really hard in the chaos of life. I remember times when I was lying there depressed. I remember times when I've been up all night. I remember times when they were asking me in the assignments, I didn't even understand the words. I remember times when I hadn't eaten when I had friends that had fallen out with me. You know, I remember so many difficult times. And the fact that I hung on tightly to college because it was consistent because it was something that was always there. And as long as I showed up, it hadn't changed. Whereas it felt like the rest of the world was changing around me. We talk now a lot about well-being and self-care and things like that. And I'm a lot kinder to myself now than I ever was previously. But that's because at that point I don't think I had the luxury of kindness to myself. I just needed to keep going. So yeah, I appreciate it's not easy.
So when you talked about kind of creating a safe space at college. What can teachers and lecturers do to ensure that students feel safe and secure in this space, but also supported to move forward with their kind of careers?
So I think back to what worked for me and then I've had the joy and frustration of working with teenagers for many, many years now. And I think for me there there's a couple of things and. One of them is don't think as the adult that you know at all, because actually what you're experiencing now or what you experienced when you were that young person's age isn't the same. And sometimes I think we can kid ourselves in thinking that we know what they're experiencing. And so therefore we've got the answers. And actually, I don't think. I don't think that's true at all. I think you need to listen and really hear the person in front of you. I think that. You know sounds so please you when I say, but do you know, be non-judgmental? Do you know things are changing and times are tough and sometimes there's something that can seem so simple to an adult as you know, replying to an e-mail or tenant for a college class or completing your assignment? Roll with what the young person needs, because if they're turning up at all at that point, it's a real opportunity to build a relationship and I've said it loads of times in the speech, but actually just be kind.
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