Name:
Kim Peters
One boring fact about yourself:
I love Scrabble.
What didn’t go to plan this week/month?
I promised I’d get ‘on top’ of my emails before a new term started. I didn’t. I think I just have to accept it isn’t possible!
What is one thing you achieved today/this week?
I made an awesome (edible) vegetarian cottage pie. I am a terrible cook so this was quite an achievement! I was cheery about it all evening.
What is success to you?
I think ‘success’ would be getting a balance between a job I love and a family I love. So far I haven’t ‘succeeded’ in this. I feel I let a lot of people down, daily. But it is my aspiration. I think if we all saw balance as a marker of success we could re-write some of the enshrined, naturalised ideas of what success is, that often demand us to go ‘all out’, all of the time, at just one thing (and then to ‘burn out’). I also think success is about taking and making time to say thank you to each other. We don’t do it enough in academia in the midst of pressures and demands on our time. But appreciating the things people do, be they ‘big’ or ‘small’, is something we should all try and achieve. It makes for nicer, kinder environment to work in, where people feel valued.
What are you proud of?
I’m not ashamed to say I am proud of the job I do and what it allows me to do. I live a life I never thought I would or could (or that people thought ‘someone like me’ would or could). Education opened a door to me and I am proud I grabbed it with both hands. It is amazing to be able to meet students, every day, and (hopefully) inspire them. It’s incredible to write and to research, and to try to make sense of parts of our world for a living! It is something I never take for granted.
What advice would you give your younger self?
It’s so clichéd – but I’d tell myself to stop waiting to arrive at a destination! There isn’t one, and even if you reach particular ‘markers’ they don’t necessarily translate into feeling any happier or any more settled. Rather, as the mobilities scholar in me would say, life is a journey, so stop trying to strive for a point on a map (spatial, temporal, whatever) that doesn’t exist!
Reclaiming Success 