Ms Sophie Brookes and her amazing Grandmother

Written by Sophie Brookes, Head of Juniors

Last year I wrote about my paternal Grandmother and all the things she had achieved, despite the difficulties she faced (Please click here to read the story). This year I am writing about my other Grandmother – my mother’s mother, who was born a decade later and had an equally interesting life, much of which was defined by circumstance. Her fortitude in the face of what fate threw at her is something which we can all aspire to I believe.

Joyce was born in 1926 and had a lonely childhood as an only child in Silverdale, Lancashire.  A bright student she attended the local primary school before winning a scholarship to Lancaster Girls Grammar School when she was eleven.  At twelve years old she lost her father.

Unfortunately, with World War 2 being declared in 1939 Joy’s education was thrown into chaos.  She remembers (along with other children in the countryside) having to collect spagnum moss to send to the hospitals to be used as an antiseptic, as well as being placed on ‘Fire Duty’ with her friend Joan which entailed keeping watch as the German planes flew overhead on their way to the shipbuilding city of Barrow.  As a member of the girl guides she spent time standing at crossroads directing army lorries as all the signposts had been removed in case of invasion.  

All the students from Manchester High School had been evacuated and had been placed at Joy’s school.  This meant that her small school was now bursting at the seams, education became compromised and there was no encouragement at all to go to university. Despite this, and with no real parental support, Joy manage to achieve her school certificate with a distinction and two credits.  She told me once that one of the questions had been about the Liverpool docks and that an uncle had taken her there many times, explaining how the ships came and went, trading routes, cargoes they brought etc.  She couldn’t believe her luck when this was a question on the paper - and it’s a great example of how experiential learning can have benefits we should not underestimate. She had listened and learned, not only from her school syllabus but from real life.

For a while she worked in a bank, which she hated and at seventeen she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Services.  She was posted to Italy where she met her husband and was married in Padova.  Joy was always the life and soul of the party, she made lots of friends and tells lots of stories of the fun they had.  She was also one for a bit of rule bending and a mischievous sense of humour.  I remember one story she told me (although now she can’t remember all the details so I will just tell it as I remember it) where she had been demoted for being caught adding the words ‘without legs’ to a sign that warned ‘No cycling’.   For a bright, young woman this experience provided her with an opportunity to be both challenged and to explore the world and she lived it to the full.

After the war she returned to England and had three daughters, one of whom became ill in toddlerhood and never recovered needing care for the rest of her life.  In 1960, when her youngest daughter was just five, she was widowed leaving her alone to cope with everything.  Needing to support the family, she moved to London where she worked in the office of a factory which made dolls, she felt great sympathy for some of the young women on the factory line who came from very deprived backgrounds and tried to help them where she could.  (As an aside, my parents met on a blind date at a ball at Norland College where my mother was training as a Nursery Nurse – the same college where the Royal family usually get Nannies for their children- my mother had made her dress out of some fabric left over from the dolls clothes at the factory, and my father was given a swatch of it to identify her amongst all the other young women – and the rest, as they say, is history).  She continued to work well past the usual retirement years, for a long time at a college and later in a private office.  She had a long and satisfying career and was highly valued and respected in her roles. She also became President of the Soroptomists in Ashford, which is a nationwide group for professional women.  She became involved in various community projects and had no qualms about contacting her local MPs over issues which needed addressing.

Having been widowed herself at a young age she ensured both her daughters achieved qualifications which would allow them to support themselves should they ever need it.  She also encouraged all her grandchildren to pursue education and careers.  

Despite doing well and carving out a strong career herself, Joy was never really satisfied that she had not had the chance to go to university and so after retirement she embarked on an open university course – graduating at the age of 84 years with a 2:1 honours degree.  Not satisfied with this she has continued to take Open University courses ever since and is currently, at the age of 95, brushing up her Italian on one.

Throughout her life Joy embraced modernity and innovation.  During her working life she saw great changes in the technologies used and was always keen to learn and stay on the curve. This thirst for knowledge and curiosity for the new and unknown means that she had no trouble picking up social media and websites such as eBay.  She has done a huge amount of research into the family tree (another passion) via both researching at the public records offices and online.  She keeps in contact with all her grandchildren using platforms such as Facebook and Skype.

I still stand in awe of both Joy and my other Grandmother (Daphne), as women whose options were so limited and yet who managed to achieve and continue to achieve through the decades.  Resilience is something we hope to teach students at MIS so that whatever life may throw at them, whichever doors may close, perhaps they can get up and dust themselves off and try some different handles. As I said in the last article, hopefully too they can leave some of the doors open for the girls and women behind them, just as those of previous generations have. Joy never gave up on her dream of university and never stopped challenging, striving, goal setting and learning.  She coped with various setbacks and had to manage by herself for a lot of her life.  

I hope that at 95 years old I am still learning how to use the most modern technologies and exploring subjects which interest me.  And I hope too that this will be the same for our MIS girls (and boys) and that they too will have the same thirst for lifelong learning and the foundations for tackling challenges and contributing to the community with the same amount of gusto!

Sophie外婆的传奇一生

作者：Sophie Brookes，小学校长

去年，我在妇女节那天写了我奶奶的传奇一生，我更多的跟大家分享了她在逆境中所取得的令人尊敬的成就（可点击此处查看故事）。今年，我想讲述一下我外婆的故事——一个比我奶奶晚出生十年，但同样不惧困境，拥有精彩的人生的女人。我相信，她的那种无论命运抛出怎样的难题，她都可以坚毅果敢处之的态度，是我们每个人所追求和敬仰的。

Joyce于1926年出生在兰开夏郡的希尔弗代尔。作为家中独女，她的童年是孤独的。她非常聪慧，十一岁时便获得了兰开斯特女子文法学校的奖学金。十二岁那年，她失去了父亲。

很快，第二次世界大战席卷而来，Joy的学业被迫中止。她回忆彼时她需要和村里的孩子们为医院到处收集泥炭藓作为防腐剂。此外，她和她的朋友Joan还要轮值做火线警报员——当德国飞机略过头顶飞往造船中心巴罗时，她们需要报告。为以防万一发生的入侵，所有的路牌都被移走了，Joy作为女子向导队的一员，她需要花很多时间站在十字路口，为陆军卡车指引方向。

彼时，曼彻斯特高中所有学生均未撤离，转移到Joy的学校。而这间小小的学校已经风雨飘零，无法为学生们提供庇护和勉学激励。尽管如此，在没有家庭支持的情况下，Joy以优异的成绩获得了学校的毕业证书。有一次，她告诉我，曾有一个叔叔带她多次去利物浦码头观察，解释船只的进出方式、贸易路线、所运输的货物等。她简直不敢相信她的运气，考试中的一个问题就是有关利物浦码头的（这也是体验式教学的极佳案例）。她不仅从学校书本中汲取知识，也从现实生活中学习经验。

她曾在一间银行工作过一段时间，她对循规蹈矩感到厌倦，十七岁时义无反顾地加入了女子军队。她被派往意大利，并在那里遇到了她日后的丈夫，她在帕多瓦举行了婚礼。她永远是聚会上的焦点，她结识很多朋友，擅长讲各类趣闻。她不拘于规矩，灵魂有趣，我记得她曾给我讲一个故事（尽管她现在不记得所有的细节了，我只说我记得的部分），她曾经在“禁止骑车”的标识上加上“无腿”二字而被降职。对于一个聪明的女人而言，这样的精力为她提供了充满挑战的探索世界的机会，她感到非常充实。

战争结束后，Joy回到英格兰，育有三个女儿，其中一个女儿在小时候生病，从未康复，终生需要照顾。1960年，当她最小的女儿只有5岁时，她成为遗孀，独自应付一切。由于需要养家糊口，她搬到伦敦，在一家生产娃娃的工厂工作，她对年轻的产线女工十分同情，她们出身贫苦，于是Joy试图力所能及地帮助她们。她退休后，依旧继续工作，她在大学里呆了很长时间，后来又在私人办公室里工作。她的职业生涯漫长而令人满意，她在每一份职业中都受到高度评价和收获了尊重。她还担任了Ashford的Soroptomists总裁，该协会是全国性的职业女性团体。她参与了各种社区项目，与当地国会议员就需要解决的问题保持沟通。

年轻时期丧偶，但Joy依旧确保自己的两个女儿都取得良好的学术成就，使他们能够自给自足。她还鼓励后代的女性们继续接受良好的职业教育，开展职业生涯。

尽管她在任何一份职业上都得到了很高的评价，但她不满足于此，因为她没有机会上大学。因此，退休后，她开始了公开大学课程的学习，在84岁那年毕业并取得了荣誉学位。不满足于此，她目前正在以95岁高龄学习意大利语言学。

Joy终生秉承现代女性的独立精神，葆有创新的活力。在她的工作生涯中，她历经了科技的巨大跨越式的发展，她能够一直热衷于学习并紧紧跟随时代的发展。对于新事物和未知事物的探索欲望和好奇心，促使她不断进步。她可以毫不费力地浏览社交媒体和网站，比如eBay。通过在公共档案室和在线知识平台的索引，她对家谱进行了大量的研究。她使用Facebook和Skype等平台与所有孙子保持联系。

我始终对Joy和我的奶奶Daphne充满了敬佩之情，作为女性，她们的人生选项原本很少，但她们在过去的几十年中一直努力拼搏，并取得成就。“韧性”是我们希望向曼校学子传达的一个重要的价值观，这种精神可以让我们无论在遭遇何等的命运捉弄时，都可以从容起身掸掉尘土，另辟蹊径，解决问题。正如我在去年的文中所说的，希望更多人能够像前几代人一样，为身后的女孩敞开大门，指引她们寻找到女性的力量。Joy从未放弃她的大学梦，也从未放弃挑战，她设定目标，刻苦训练，克服挫折，以自己的一生去追随梦想，百折不挠。

我希望当我95岁时，依旧可以学习如何使用最先进的技术，并探索我感兴趣的主题。我也希望这对我们曼校的女生（和男生）来说也是一样的，他们也可以有终身学习的渴望，并未解决挑战和以同等的热情为社区做出贡献。

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