I am honoured to be recognised in this year’s Reading University Students Union annual awards, winning the Teaching Excellence Award for Built Environment. As these awards are nominated by the students I teach, it makes the prize feel even more exceptional.
Teaching has always been important to me, as I have written about in a previous blog post. When I was younger it was my teachers who saw my potential and helped to encourage me, this was something that inspired me to teach myself, I had always hoped to be able to pass this positive experience on to the next generation.
There are so many other great teachers at Reading University, I am humbled to have been singled out for this honour. This award has come as a very pleasant surprise, after such a challenging year for us all it is positive news that is even more welcomed.
‘Darren is an inspiration ever since the first lecture he gave. He always gets us talking and always has more to add to the lessons. He’s informative and precise. On a personal note he has helped me believe in myself by talking about his dyslexia, helping me to overcome what I have struggled with for many years, I cannot thank him enough!’