77: Alex Davis

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Alex Davis who is an MA Ancient History student at the University of Kent. Alex talks about growing up in Lydd and going to university as a mature student after working in her parents’ family business. She tells us how she went from working in the accounts department to doing a degree in Classics and Ancient History, where her passion for her subject came from and how she would have done something geosciences-based if she had gone to university straight from school.

We talk about the value of doing a degree, and the critical skills that we acquire, and why deadlines are natural to her, before moving on to talk about Alex’s earliest memories and the music she used to listen to in the family car while growing up, such as from Queen and the way that music from, say, school discos pull us back. We learn that Alex is more of a book person and that she and her partner are currently re-reading the work of Terry Pratchett.

Alex talks about the influence of her school Geography teacher, how her parents were involved in the Conservative Party and we learn what it was like to meet Michael Howard, who used to be her MP, in the flesh.

We discuss the value of clubs and societies and of going to church when she was younger, and reflect on how if something in life is easy there isn’t really much fun in doing it. Alex reveals that giving up is not in her nature, and how she hated once having to pull out of running a race.

In the final part of the interview we talk about what it is like to grow up in a small town, about how we learn from things that happened in the past and why Alex refuses my two options of whether she is a looking forward or a looking back kind of person!

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Alex Davis and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.