22nd March 2018

Reflections – Daniel Garrod

1st Year Paediatric Nursing Student – Bangor University

It takes a lot to inspire me, the word is bandied around too much, I must feel it in my heart and then feel it through my very soul.  I fear that finding inspiration in everything will leave you numb to the sensation.

So, it was that travelling down to Reading from Anglesey, North Wales, left me with ample time to consider what I was about to walk into.  I had been reluctant to apply, not through hesitation, but whether such a conference and meeting of minds would be applicable to me.  I am routinely seen as cynical and irreverent, two traits in complete odds with my speciality as a paediatric nursing student: So to be encouraged by my tutor to apply was rather alien and unexpected.

Through considering this encouragement, I came to realise that that was what a true leader does.  They see value and potential in all those around them, and bolster and push when appropriate to create opportunities and skills for people that, they themselves, did not realise were applicable to them.

I walked into the conference after a 5-hour journey tired, but excited all the same.  I adored talking with those from other specialities (I developed special affinity with Midwives and Learning Disability Nurses) and did my level-headed best to keep up with the influx of information and perspectives from my peers.  Listening to experienced speakers from so many different healthcare professions, in different stages in their career, gave me perspective on the bigger picture.  A picture a bit higher from the ground than I’m personally used to, but one that encouraged me that you can still work close to the ground to lead and inspire.

The Student Leadership Programme has already given me confidence and drive to push myself further than I thought I would when I began my time in University.  Knowing that I was chosen for this programme, in itself, made me realise I had something within me that I did not believe possible: a future, and an excited and bright one at that.

And that realisation truly inspiring.

By Daniel Garrod