Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

It was a pleasure this week to interview Abi Hawkins, Head of Religious Education at Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School in Canterbury. Abi teaches Key Stages 3-5 and she explains that she always wanted to become a teacher and why she especially enjoys teaching subjects she struggled with the most at university, e.g. Philosophy of Language. Abi, who was born in Canterbury and brought up in Whitstable, reveals that she once considered acting, and we discuss the extent to which the teaching profession could be considered a form of acting. Abi belonged to a drama club when she was young and played an orphan in the musical ‘Annie’ at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Abi reveals what her earliest memories are, which precipitates a conversation about the way in which holidays require us to navigate the break in our routinized lives. Regarding musical memories Abi recalls how when she was ten years of age she went to Australia and remembers listening to a CD of upbeat cover songs. She has a genuine wish t