Having just discovered the Student Campus Partners (SCP) concept I rushed to apply for the Digital Learning Assistant jobs newly posted on Exeter’s SCP bulletin. Knowing very little about online education or eLearning I threw myself into a number of free open university courses, in order to gain basic knowledge and in hopes of impressing my potential bosses during the interview. During the interview I felt relatively relaxed, despite being a first time zoom user (writing this seems hysterical now as it’s part of daily life). I was well aware of how many people had applied for this role and was enthusiastic to share all the buzz words and academic understanding I had learned during my courses.

I got the job. I was thrilled! I thought I’d do a few hours of work each week, helping out with powerpoint design or captioning videos. I would never have imagined the work would have evolved in the way it did and that the opportunities I was given would be so formative in securing my graduate job.

The opportunities for me included: Speaking at a lecture of 230 people, about online learning and the future of work, representing the University at the UOG shift conference and exploring the re-imagination of the education system and being nominated for Student Employee of the Year. There were many other highlights including helping lecturers directly deliver fantastic online content, helping create vital online learning resources and tutorial videos (to help even when I’m no longer at the university!) And building a high-performing and functional team of Editors for this blog, entirely virtually! It is safe to say I will really miss working with my Exeter colleagues and contributing to digital learning at the university but the skills I will be taking with me are invaluable and I know the work has given me the strongest foundation possible for the next chapter of my life.