A day in the life

The Rev Jane Howitt, chaplain at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, describes a typical day.

NO two days are ever alike.

An unforgettable one was the morning a Kashmiri student came to my door in the Chaplaincy looking slightly agitated. I asked his name and invited him in. He told me he had just arrived in Edinburgh the evening before and then blurted out: “I need to know Jesus!” After assuring him he’d come to the right place, he told me that the reason for coming to study in the UK was that he knew he would be free to find out more about Jesus. What an incredible start to the day!

My past cross-cultural experience has been invaluable as at Heriot-Watt University we have a very high proportion of international students from many different cultural backgrounds. Currently, the Chaplaincy is leading on some research to understand more about the culture shock that these students experience when they arrive in Scotland so that we can provide better preparation and induction materials for them. It is great having time to listen to students’ experiences and to learn about their home countries. This year that has included places such as Haiti, Ghana, Kazakhstan, India, Dubai, Mauritius, China and St Lucia.

My time is split in roughly four ways: supporting students and staff, managing my own team of staff and volunteers, the ceremonial life of the university and developing chaplaincy on our other campuses.

“ He told me he had just arrived in Edinburgh the evening before and then blurted out: “I need to know Jesus!”

Two weeks each year are spent in graduation ceremonies and I have the privilege of addressing our new graduates and their friends and families and leading them in prayer. Some of the other big events include an Annual Lecture that is hosted by the Chaplaincy and which covers topics, demonstrating the intersection of science and faith. These lectures are open to the public and are a key feature of the University calendar. I’ve enjoyed hosting well-known individuals such as Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican Astronomer, Professor John Wyatt and Dr Sharon Dirckx.

Welcome Week is an anchor point of our year too. As a team, we welcome hundreds of new students to campus through a whole series of events. We recycle kitchen equipment from outgoing students and make it available to those starting their university careers and in that week we also begin all our student meals, feeding anything between 50 and 180 students. We organise trips for international students to see other parts of Scotland. Creating a warm, friendly space for students gives the Chaplaincy its strapline: a home away from home. So, on a Sunday after the church service I lead on campus, we all have lunch around one table, as a family might do and the chat ranges across subjects like friendship and relationships to the reasons for the economic or political situation in the countries represented – and of course, football!

Offering staff and students a place to explore and develop faith is part of my role too and so we host a Staff Christian fellowship and various discussion groups for students. We are able to read the Bible one–to–one with students who would like to explore the Christian faith more deeply. 

As you can see, every day is different. On campus, I work with an open door and try to embrace interruptions, offer to pray with those who come in and take delight in seeing God at work in the lives of so many, even when they don’t always realise it.