Aydin Course International Relations Year Fourth Image The best part about working in the calling room, without a shadow of a doubt, is the valuable connections you can form with another individual over the phone. Before I joined the calling room, the concept of telephoning a stranger and striking up a conversation would have daunted me, but I quickly saw how such an operation worked and how successful the telethon campaign has been in maintaining the close relationship that the university enjoys with its alumni. It really is no different than going up to talk to a stranger in a bar or a coffee shop, minus the visuals, and it’s honestly quite incredible just thinking how far some of my conversations have developed in such a short time. There’s no reason to be nervous, the joy that I take from every single conversation is what spurs me to keep calling! Alumni come in all different shapes and sizes, but my favourite calls have come from those who are not scared to share their life experiences and memories of university with a strange voice over the telephone. The university’s alumni network is far-reaching, and I have had the joy of being able to speak to alumni across every continent of the globe, dealing with the inevitable language barriers along the way. One particular call that I fondly remember was to an alum in Mexico, who attended the university in the 1960s, and mistook me for one of his university contemporaries – he asked me to send him a photo of what I looked like now. Another time, I spoke to a Doctor living in Canada who had met his future wife at the university, and we spent a great deal of time reminiscing about Edinburgh and comparing the campus to what it was like at his time. It’s especially impactful when I speak to an alum who has come from a similar background to mine, having received a scholarship to come study at the university, and hearing how much of an impact that funding has had on their time at university and life prospects. People who have themselves received support know exactly what kind of hardships some students are facing today in the pursuit of a university education and how much of an impact the Edinburgh Fund can have. I also enjoy hearing from alumni who have worked in industries that I am interested in joining, especially public service and finance roles, and I am always able to pick up a fragment of helpful advice on pursuing my chosen career. More often than not though, the advice that I get from alumni is a simple phrase: ‘you are only young once and enjoy your short time at university while it lasts’. Sometimes that’s also interspersed with advice about work ethic, but it can also be a recommendation of which pubs and night clubs I ‘absolutely must’ visit before I leave Edinburgh. Thank you for all your stories! Aydin November 2020 This article was published on 2024-10-29
