Post by Rachel Cullis Dorsett

This week my son graduated from Imperial College London with a First Class Degree Honours in Biology. The ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall was thought provoking and humbling. Sitting in a room with the world’s brightest grads in science, technology, engineering and maths, who will go out and make a huge difference in the world, seeing special awards delivered for climate change, listening to inspirational speaches and watching my son sitting amongst that crowd, having earned his place, work hard, overcome challenges and just achieved everything he wanted to, with resiliant determination, was a moment I will treasure as any mother would. But the moment that really made me reflect and think, was the reaction of the crowd when the students were asked to thank their parents and guardians. The roof nearly came off the Albert Hall. What an honour it was to be there, but most of all be appreciated for the teeny tiny part we played. Of course, it isn’t about the parents but looking around that huge iconic auditorium which held students from all four corners of the world, you can’t help but think about the sacrifices that have been made to ensure those people made it to that room. Bringing up well grounded, kind and hard working children whilst striving to manage your own career and business, keep a home and ensure everyone’s mental health is intact, is hard and exhausting at times. But moments like this, this week, make me realise it is all worth it. Sharing my children’s achievements means so much more to me than my own ever have. I remembered the guilt I used to feel when not at the school gates. But I am grateful that we made the decision to always put work second to celebrate all the moments that were special - sports days, awards ceremonies, school plays and assemblies - when their little faces are looking for you in the crowd. These are the moments that make people. You don’t ever remember the conference you chose to attend instead, but you will always remember seeing your child’s face when winning the three legged race and how important it is to them that you are present. As my son goes on to begin his MRes at UCL in neuroscience and Dementia we watch on from the sides in utter awe. Creating and developing young people is the most important job in the world. We need to work, mothers should work for their own independence, development, confidence and self esteem, but I am so pleased to see that all the worries I had about time unspent with my children because of my work, has created happy, well rounded, hard working and most of all kind people. Who knew! If you are doubting yourself as a working mother, carry on. It’s all possible and you can have it all.

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