Looking back on 2024

2023 was a year of working too hard, and dating and running. And hanging out with my hill-based friends. How different was 2024? 

Not an awful lot different, to be honest! And I suppose that is mainly a good thing. Only the working too hard is a bit of a bummer.

January started with just that; I had a lot more marking leftover from the first term then I did this year. So I was still frantically marking coursework until the very moment the exams came in. Not an ideal way to start the year.

In February, racing started again with the Nick Beer 10k. And I got busy with my Athena Swan application. And my application for promotion. We also hired a maternity cover; we had already been hiring people in 2023, but these would not start until the New Year. This lady would start pretty much immediately! I also got busy with a big time saving device: my new mitre saw. Important for someone who does a lot of house heating with wood.

In March we appointed the last new member of academic staff. And at the end of the month, I submitted both my application for promotion to senior lecturer, and for an Athena Swan bronze award renewal. I was a bit wild-eyed by the time I sent off both but then there was a big weight of my shoulders!

In April, the dissertation module came to an end. That is always a busy time for me. And I started fell racing. I am still rubbish at that! But it was fun. And I had some visitors: the Cornish were back.

May brought a lot of marking, again. And an eventful race! I ran the Snowdonia half marathon, and limped over the finish. That turned out to be an IT band problem. I still don't know if I can run half marathons without them complaining. And I found myself cat sitter, so I could go travelling in summer. And at the end of the month, I heard that my Athena Swan application had been a success! That was excellent.

June was for travelling. First to the Netherlands, for our annual family reunion. That's the family on my dad's side; excitingly, I also met up with a cousin from my mother's side. And then to Finland, to celebrate my sister's birthday in Lapland. That was a fab holiday. In spite of the mosquitoes!

In July there was more travelling, but this time by other people; firstly my dad who came to visit. And then my old friend Frank. And my running looked up; I managed to run a silver medal in a 10k trail race, and joined the Eryri Harriers. And I met up with a guy I had got chatting with on a dating site. 

In August I really enjoyed the Eryri-related Thursday runs. And I saw more people: my cousin popped by again, with her family, Kate who had moved to England popped by again, and I joined Jitske for a few days hiking Shropshire, after which I saw the dating guy bloke again. And Lydia came over from London. I also managed to run my first gold medal. That was exciting! And then I went to the Netherlands again. 

In September, I tried a half marathon again. That didn’t go well! And I had my last visitor for a while: Rick, my old mine exploration friend from the southwest. And almost immediately afterwards, term started, with our annual field trip. The fun was over! And I ran Moel Eilio with the Thursday Night Hill group, and came away with an ankle injury I still have. And I saw the bloke from the dating site, Nick, a bit more. And I reconnected with an old school firend: Koen.

In October, Nick and I decided to be a couple. A big step! And I ran me another silver medal to celebrate. My ankle didn’t enjoy that! And term got into high gear, which all lecturing starting, and a lot of work on facilitating students designing their own dissertation topics. Luckily, by then we had a whole lot of new(ish) colleagues, with whom I also socialised. 

November was still stupidly busy with work. And no running to speak of! December started like that too, but then the pressure dropped. And I could celebrate my birthday without stress, and later go to the Netherlands. And that was the year pretty much done!

So yes, 2024 was another year of working too much, dating and running. And hanging out with my hill-based friends, although when we see each other, we often just meet up for dinner, and that rarely ends up on the blog (but not never). It doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and it doesn't mean it's not important to me! I hope to see a lot more of them in 2025.

Regarding the working, the good news of course was that the two big projects going on both came to fruition: my promotion application, and my application for the Athena Swan accreditation. These were the big things! And 2025? I intend to apply for senior fellowship of the higher education Academy in summer (I've been procrastinating). Wish me luck! Otherwise, I don't expect huge changes or spectacular events. But you never know. There is also this tiny matter of the University being in dire straits again! Who knows how that pans out in 2025.

The dating went better than it had been in living memory. I really hope Nick and I can make 2025 a glorious year for the two of us!

And the running! This was such a successful year, until it wasn't. I never ran gold before, and I had several silvers. I was on such a roll! But I am clearly of the age now that I can't take any of that for granted. I start the year only capable of doing very short careful runs, because of my ankle. But I am religiously doing my physiotherapy exercise exercises. I really hope I will be back in fighting form very soon!

Was there anything else? Last year I mentioned ChatGPT. I figured that might have changed my work a lot by the end of the year. And I suppose it has, but it went so gradual I barely noticed. We for instance make sure to run all our exam questions through AI to see how it fares. If it can do a good job, it's not a good exam question! But so far there is still so much it can't do we can always think of other exam questions. And the University wants to phase out exams anyway. Coursework is much less AI-vulnerable, although of course not entirely invulnerable.

I also mentioned I was going to do a duathlon. And I did! But I don't think the competitive cycling is for me, and the running on that day also wasn't, because it was too soon after my IT band issue had reared its ugly head.

And I was right to worry about politics! What on Earth will happen when Trump assumes power again? And how will the situation in Syria develop? How long will the rickety coalition in the Netherlands last? How will the elections in Germany go?

And I had a last new Year's resolution: reading more books. And did I? Yes! I barely read anything in 2023, and I read seven books (almost 8) in 2024. Still a disappointing number to be honest! But better than it was. May this continue in 2025! 

And the cat? No mention of her so far! But she is not a very time-specific aspect of my life. She started the year thinking a very good use of her time is snoozing in a comfortable chair. She ended the year thinking snoozing in a comfortable chair is a very good use of her time. And she is still the little spoon every night, and she still loves playing with the fishing rod toy. Just like last year. And probably next year…