Saleh Uddin
(He/Him)
My journey into coaching has been a lifelong one. Throughout primary school I was lost in a maze of my own thoughts and perceived as the “quiet one”.
I was already reading books on history when I was 5 years old, but my teachers still put me into remedial English classes, where all they did was colouring in.
My secondary education started differently, I transformed into a mischievous troublemaker, seemingly lazy student but always on the brink of doing really well. I spent most of year 7 and 8 fighting because I felt the other students would not let me be who I was, I refused to conform to what they and the school wanted. After moving schools in year 9 I wanted to show my new teachers and parents that it wasn't a lack of effort, and I could do well; it was the constant struggle to give my best while feeling lost and chaotic within. I learned to mask how I felt and started to act how people expected me to. But this was very tiring, and I could never do all of this and focus on doing the best in my studies. I went to University and was predicted to get a 1st class Honours degree, but disappointed everyone by getting a 2.1. Why, because it was at university that I started to spend my time helping others, and found I was really good at it. I would help my friends revise for their exams on the night of my exams, and just wing my own exams. But I felt good.
After university I had a multitude of jobs; sales, marketing, clerical, research. I never lasted in any of them. Then I did my PGCE in secondary science, and I was back in my element. Helping people. Over the last 26 years, I have stuck at teaching. 9 schools, two countries and thousands of students. It was through my teaching that I started understanding more of what I went through personally. Dyslexia, ADHD, neurodiversity – these all help open my eyes and allowed me to come to peace with and make sense of mess that I felt inside. The next natural step for me was to help young people who feel how I felt and were going through my journey. Coaching has allowed me to do this. The feeling when someone understands how you feel and that you are not broken, is one of the purest moments of joy for both me and the young people I work with.