Staff Spotlight: Kat Simpson

What's your role at D&A College, and what's the story behind how you ended up here?

I’m one of the Academic Partnership Officers within the Academic Partnership Team.  It is my role to deal with Senior Phase school pupils from the Dundee area that attend college in the afternoons as part of their school timetable.

I started with the college back in 2003 covering a 9 month maternity contract.  21 years later I am still here - so I must be doing something right! During this time I have worked on every campus and in a variety of different roles from doing admin in what was known as Curriculum Support Services, Bursaries, the International Team and then more latterly Employability.  I thought my time was up at the college a couple of years ago when my Employability role was made redundant.  My heart sank when I heard the news, but for those who know me know my glass is always half full and I wasn’t ready to give up.  The role of APO came up and I decided to go for it.  Working with school pupils definitely has its challenges but there are also plenty of laughs to go with it. I love my job and the people I work with.  I’ve seen many changes over the years and I'm excited to see what happens in the future!

Work is one thing, but what do you do outside of the college walls? Any exciting hobbies or weekend adventures?

I never thought I’d see the day where I became a dog mum considering I’m allergic to most things with fur, but times change and now I wouldn’t see myself without them.  I love our wee adventures on our weekend walks, although maybe not so much in winter as I hate the wet and the cold!

My main hobby at the moment though is wedding planning!  There's a year to go to the big day and everything is falling into place nicely.  I’m constantly on Pinterest, taking screenshots of ideas and asking my sister 'do you think you can make me this?!'  I’m a bit of a dreamer though so I sometimes need to reign myself back in and realise that I’m not an A-list celebrity and I don’t have an endless pot of money! 

When you were younger, what was your dream job? And if you could do any career, what would you choose and why?

I don’t really think I had a dream job when I was younger.  I always fancied being a hairdresser but the school talked me out of it.  To this day though I am still the resident hair and makeup artist of my friendship group.

Maybe due to my love of organising events and now organising my own wedding I should have been a Wedding Planner or an Events Coordinator!

If you could have any person, dead or alive, as a dinner guest , who would it be and why?

I can’t really think of anyone that stands out, but whoever it was would need to be a good cook because I’m not the best! I have gotten better over the years though!

Share with us the most valuable piece of advice or life lesson that's really stuck with you, especially when it comes to dealing with the ups and downs of learning.

Never give up! It might take you a lot longer than others to get there but that doesn’t matter.  Do it at your own pace and don’t worry what other people think of you.

Look out for more staff spotlights coming soon!