Daisy Mitchell reflects on last week’s vocational formal. With a wide collection of guests from both within and outside of Durham University, the night was bound to be one of great conversation and widespread networking.
Thursday 24th October was the working in Science, Technology and Innovation formal in St John’s Leech Hall. The night began with a discussion panel hosted by third year physics student Jesse Bauristhene, in which three guests were able to speak about their careers, their everyday experiences in their work, and give excellent snippets of advice to the students in the room. These panel guests included two Durham University alumni, Adrian Saw, as well as St John’s own alumnus, Dr Clodomiro Cafolla, and Dr Isabel Santos.
After an incredible panel discussion, the formal moved seamlessly to a drinks reception in Crossroads where many new guests arrived to network with the students. A number of guests were invited from North East Technology Park (NETPark), a science park in County Durham supporting innovative businesses, from engineering to technology companies. This made the formal a particularly special occasion as students of the college were able to network with a wide variety of people from growing businesses in the North East. Additionally, many of the visitors from NETPark had never visited Durham University before, making their attendance at this event especially exciting.
During the delicious three course meal, students, alumni, and guests had the chance to participate in fascinating conversations with those on their tables. An incredible seven full tables of pupils filled Leech Hall, from undergraduates to postgraduates to PHD students – all were in attendance for this unmissable evening. Additionally, an incredible 20 guests were present for the meal, all introducing themselves and sharing one valuable piece of advice to the room post-dinner.
During dessert, everyone was encouraged to stand, mingle, and chat with those in the room they had not yet spoken to – as is customary of these vocational formals. During this time I had the pleasure of speaking to Rosi Jelfs, one of St John’s own alumni. Rosi graduated from St John’s in 2012 with a modern languages degree before continuing to do a masters in Contemporary German Literature. Despite her degree not being in science, she now works as a Senior Manager for research systems and reporting at Durham University. Whilst chatting to Rosi I learnt about her life in John’s as a rower and how her commitment to the boat club helped her learn the importance of prioritisation with a busy schedule. She told me she loves coming back to Johns and, having come to this vocational formal last year, was thrilled when she was invited again.
I also had the opportunity to chat to Miro, another of John’s alumni and a past resident tutor in the college. He told me he liked the informality of the panel discussion as it made it a more comfortable place to speak of his experiences in academia. He echoed Rosi’s enthusiasm for the formal and return to Johns, telling me he felt like part of the furniture in the college after having been here for so long!
Overall, the formal was thoroughly enjoyable, with lots of engaging and informative discussions and the opportunity to learn from a variety of guests both from within and outside of the university.
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