A love letter to Lampeter 1/?: I came here as a young lecturer in Classics in 2008, driving from Manchester on roads that seemed to go on forever with Welsh road signs that were unintelligible even to a linguist who called three different countries home. @StudyUWTSD

A love letter to Lampeter 2/?: We were a small department then, and have stayed that way through many changes. I knew my first year’s students by name, and they knew me. At least one of them might read this post, twelve years down the line.

A love letter to Lampeter 3/?: We’re proud of each other. I stuff my sleeves with hankies and clap through tears at every graduation, because our students grow so much.

A love letter to Lampeter 4/?: “Are you a bucket of points?” a colleague who became my wife used to say on Open Days. Here, your UCAS points might mean less than what you say when talking to us.

A love letter to Lampeter 5/?: I’ve sent Classics students on to MAs and PhDs, teacher training and museums, policing and nursing. Recently, an alumna greeted me with the biggest smile and open arms on a grey, tired day: by now, she’s almost forgiven me for missing her graduation

A love letter to Lampeter 6/?: because I was in Copenhagen on a Horizon2020 fellowship. In one way, it was bliss: in a teaching-focussed uni, quiet time for research is limited. (Actually, it means we involve our students in our research: it grows as we teach, for our students.)

A love letter to Lampeter 7/?: but as I travelled to conferences, picked up a new specialism, learned to weave like a Roman matrona, and finally had time to write and publish, I missed Lampeter, too. I missed my colleagues, and my students.

A love letter to Lampeter 8/?: When an academic gets a big grant, it’s usually seen as a stepping stone to gaining a more prestigious post with more perks and less teaching. I wanted to bring the fruits of my project, new networks and inspiration home to Lampeter.

A love letter to Lampeter 9/?: By now, two years later, quite a few Lampeter students have learned to spin and know the smell of greasy wool. We’ve had world-leading guest speakers on ancient textiles work directly with our students – at all levels – and have more lined up.

A love letter to Lampeter 10/?: I work more closely than ever with colleagues whose support first made that grant possible: co-teaching, co-supervising. We’re not kidding when we talk about peer-learning and interdisciplinarity, because we learn from each other all the time.

A love letter to Lampeter 11/?: I’m proud of what our small institution offers and what it brings out in our students, right here and online. And I’m proud I put our ridiculously long name on conference tags and papers. We punch well above our weight. Take a look, and see.

A love letter to Lampeter 12/12: Now, I see the Ceredigion hills rising around the road or glimpse a bilingual sign from the train window and know I’m home. I’m in a web of connections, and this is my stepping stone to the world. It can be yours, too. @StudyUWTSD @UWTSDLampeter

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