Lucy Mitchell (Hodges, No.2, 2001-08) arrived at Roedean as an 11 year old on September 11th, 2001. Over the next 7 years they lived in House 2 and then Keswick for 6th form. Lucy was a scholar, a prefect, and Deputy Head Girl. They are from London and now live near Bristol, UK.

1. What is your favourite memory of Roedean?

It's so hard to choose! I have very fond memories of evenings in Keswick canteen, getting a hot chocolate with my friends, and catching up about our days. I certainly had some challenging times at school - like many people - but the older I get, the more I cherish my memories of Roedean. It's a very special place.

2. What was the best piece of advice you were given whilst at School?

One day when I was about 17, Dr. Birch sat me down in her study. She was the indefatigably enigmatic and militantly feminist head of Keswick, famous for her zen Buddhism and putting her feet on the table all the time. She looked at me frankly and said "I think you're depressed, and I think you should talk to someone." She was right. She died a few years ago and I miss her very much.

3. When you were at Roedean, what did you want to be when you ‘grew-up’?

A marine biologist! I've always loved being underwater.

4. What are you now you’ve grown up?

I'm not sure I'll ever know what grown up means, but I have to pay tax now! I've had a few different careers; Masters-level qualified NHS Occupational Therapist in brain injury, running bakeries and record labels in London, somehow pirouetting through jobs in marketing, media, the third sector, recruitment, retail, and hospitality - but I've worked and stayed in tech since 2018. I retrained as a software developer then went back to my undergraduate roots in anthropology and linguistics and pivoted into technical writing, which is basically writing about and explaining software. That probably sounds pretty boring, but I love my job. I'm the Documentation Lead for a company called Kraken, which is the tech platform that sits underneath Octopus Energy, EON, EDF, and lots of other utility companies. I learn new things every day, make things simpler for people to understand, and help accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

5. What does your job involve?

I help shape software that does good things and then get to write about it, which means cool stuff can be built on top. The energy that flows through your light bulbs, the gas that cooks your dinners, the internet you use at home - it's likely connected to me (in a very distant way - utilities like gas, electricity, telco, and water are very big!) - so consider that a little wave from another Old Roedeanian. My job involves listening to people, solving problems, writing code, having silly ideas, and trying them out.

6. What have you done that you are most proud of?

I co-founded a track cycling group for women, trans folks, and non-binary people in London. It's called Velociposse and though I moved out of London, it's still going strong, over ten years later. 

7. What are the three objects you would take with you to a desert island?

Binoculars, snorkel, hori hori knife (a Japanese gardening tool with one serrated edge and one smooth knife edge - just a really handy thing to have around). I don't think I'd stay too long, but perhaps I'd change my mind and tell everyone I was marooned there, and live out my days peacefully! I moved onto a boat in my 20s, originally for a short stretch, then somehow spent 3 years living on canals and rivers in London, Essex, and Hertfordshire.

8. What books have had a significant influence on you and why?

Every book I read has an influence on me. I read about a book a week and take notes, then extract all the interesting quotes into a big repository, where I tag them thematically (I promise I do actually have a life). A lot of similar themes crop up in very different books. If you're interested, I wrote a blogpost about it - search online for "Compiling a commonplace book using obsidian.md".

9. What is on your bucket list?

I want to dive shipwrecks off the UK coast, run a community launderette, visit Aotearoa, be involved with rewilding projects, and become an upholsterer.

10. If you had one year and unlimited funds, what would you do?

I've thought about this question for ages, and I still don't know...! I'd like to help people, and make lasting, positive change. I watch a lot of Star Trek and in the Star Trek future, they don't have money. And they're all rather nice to each other. Makes me wonder. I'd probably out-lobby big oil and try to avoid climate catastrophe.