The New UofG Student & Staff Parenting Network
A lot of good things are happening as a result of the UofG Researcher Development Blog: people are talking, sharing resources and accessing support services that they might not have been aware of previously. But what happens when the resources you need appear not to exist?
When I wrote a blog post on trying to raise a child and a thesis at the same time, my aim was to provide a different perspective on the work-life balance of PGRs. I assumed that there would be other people in a similar situation to me and I was surprised to find that there wasn’t a university-wide network for postgraduate parents. The astute amongst you might remember that I invited readers to contact me if they were interested in setting one up. Imagine my surprise when someone actually did.
The UofG Young(ish) Parents Network is currently in its infancy, but is already eating up more of my time than is healthy! It’s a direct result of my previous blog post and has introduced me to some great people. Our aim is to provide a support network for parents (or expectant parents) at the UofG, and organise family friendly social events for everyone to get to know each other. Whether you are an undergraduate or early career researcher, we want you to be involved.
Becoming a parent is the best thing I have ever done, but trying to balance work, life, studying and research with raising a young child can be challenging. Not only will you discover that Sleep Pattern Envy is actually a thing you can experience, you’re also likely to miss out on the pub quizes, the ad-hoc drinks, the impromptu lunches and a whole host of other social events that go along with the usual PGR experience.That’s exactly why we have created the aforementioned network.
If you are interested in what we are trying to achieve then you should absolutely make our Facebook Group your first port of call. Join up, get involved and have a say in how our little adventure pans out. We are looking forward to making this as big as possible and hope to have our first social event when the good old Glasgow weather picks up for the summer.
Even if you don’t have children yourself, you can still contribute: all that we ask is for you to remember that our network exists. Keep it in the back of your mind, and when you come across a friend, colleague or future-self that you think might benefit from a little support, let them know where we are.
If you would like any more information, or simply want to throw some ideas at me, feel free to contact me directly. If I’m not too busy changing the world with cutting edge science, or pretending to be a robot, I’ll usually reply within a day or two.
