Saints at Home – Amy Cummings
Amy Cummings graduated with an MA in Medieval History in 2016 and an MLitt in Museum and Gallery Studies in 2017 and is now living and working in Manchester. We asked her what it’s like living in lockdown and how she keeps in touch with alumni friends.
Where has life taken you after graduating?
I absolutely loved life in St Andrews but was ready to move and spread my wings after five years. So, in 2017, after graduating with my MLitt I moved to Manchester to join my (now) fiancé who had moved a year earlier. I’m still living in Manchester and have recently changed direction in my career to work for Alzheimer’s Society. I now work within the Regional Fundraising team as the Development & Innovation Team’s Assistant. It’s a really fun and rewarding job that has actually put a lot of the skills I gained in my Masters degree to good use.
How are you feeling about Coronavirus?
It’s a bit rubbish to be honest! I have always been a sociable person and spend most of my ‘fun time’ with friends and family, so to suddenly be told none of that is possible and unable to pop on a train back home to Edinburgh is quite an adjustment. However, I have been trying to be optimistic and take it as an opportunity to spend quality time with my fiancé and, once I got hold of eggs and flour, bake and cook to my heart’s content. In some ways the slowing down of life has been a nice change and it’s rekindled lots of old friendships and encouraged greater communication with friends and family. Last weekend we had a Zoom call where we played an online murder mystery game – something my Dad would never have been keen on before!
How are you coping with lockdown?
It’s actually been ok – so far! As with thousands of others across the UK I have been put on furlough. Having worked full time and part time during university it is very odd to suddenly be told not to work at all. Removing myself from the daily emails and not always needing to be aware of what’s going on at work has been the strangest thing of all. I’ve been trying to find something fun or (marginally) different to do each day, whether it’s watching a new tv show or film, trying a new recipe or finally giving in and playing on the various gaming consoles we have under the TV. I have become obsessed with Sims4 and thankfully my yoga teacher has moved all her classes online, so things are not all bad really! If my furloughing continues into May I’m going to take an online course in design or marketing so that I can bring some extra skills back to my role when I return.
How do you keep in touch with other alumni?
I’m very lucky to have made several really good friends at university. We are now all spread across the UK, Canada, Germany and US so are used to communicating digitally and video calling each other. The Coronavirus situation has just stepped this up: we are chatting more and had a Zoom pub night a few weeks ago which was lovely. It’s great to be able to have a moan to each other and then immediately cheer each other up by already making plans to visit each other and plan holidays again when this is all done – hopefully sooner rather than later!