What is it all for? This...

Smiley SMUDGE Enterprise 2012 participants

Last week I had one of the busiest weeks I've ever had in this job - and one of the most satisfying.  It was industry week at the business school and we hosted our Annual St. David's Day lecture (with the wonderful, inspirational, Professor Laura McAllister) and also our 3 day SMUDGE Enterprise bootcamp  - both of which I was engaged in organising and running.

Strangely enough, I was also asked by several people this week what drives me, and why I do this job.  Maybe because they could see me running around like a mad thing trying to get everything done in the (frankly measly allocation of) 24hrs in each day, who knows?  But the question was asked, and this forced me to reflect.  Why do I do this job, when it takes so much out of me?  When I get up at 5am, get to my desk by 7am, work all day without pause until late...go home, work some more, sleep a little and repeat to fade. 

So, for what it's worth, here are my reasons...how do they compare to your reasons for doing your job?

Firstly, I know what it's like to be the underdog - to be the one who feels like an alien in a world of gods and goddesses.  I know what it's like to be surrounded by the privileged and expectant - to be taken advantage of, to be the up-start, Camus's outsider, Kafka's cockroach, Radiohead's Creep.

I also know what it's like to find that you don't have the right connections, the right knowledge, the right look, the right reference points and have to catch up or get around the system despite the standing start.

Finally, I know what it's like to lose everything and have to start from scratch with just a suitcase and new place.

So, for me to see those students who may seem disengaged, marginalised, lacking confidence, frustrated, damaged, angry (the list could go on) throwing themselves into something, buzzing about their ideas, taking part, showing that they can do it and surprising themselves, is such an amazing feeling.  I've had the great privilege of seeing that this week, and I can't keep the smile off my face as a result.

So, I find myself working away here this weekend, but I don't mind, because I know that some good happened this week, and I helped in some small way.  These are my reasons - just in case you're asking...

If you want to see what I'm talking about...take a quick peek at the SMUDGE Enterprise 2012 live blog.

Or the Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/SMUDGE_Ent