I had one of the best years of my life, albeit one of the toughest ones...

I am now a fully-fledged teacher. I am now officially Miss Gwilliam, how strange is that!

It's made me start to think about my PGCE year as a whole; my last year as a student, my last year as a complete carefree ... my last year as a non-taxpayer. But it has also made me look to the future, my future as a teacher and the influence I will have on the future of others and that is when I understand the brevity of the last year, what it has taught me and what it has helped me become.

I had no idea what awaited me a year ago when I first applied for the course. I had qualified from university with first-degree honours and was absolutely clueless as to what I was going to do with it. I had always worked with people, helping people, and somehow couldn't imagine myself stuck behind a desk in an office shuffling papers day in day out for the rest of my life.

I wanted to use my degree, I wanted to work with people and I wanted a challenge. I had considered teaching before and thought I had nothing to lose by at least applying. I chose the UEA because it was close to home, not knowing then that it had a reputation as one of the best universities for PGCE's. A year down the line, I can't imagine having gone anywhere else. I had one of the best years of my life, albeit one of the toughest ones (although something tells me there are many more to come!).

The course itself was very interesting, being split into the two areas of curriculum development and general professional development. The curriculum areas provided an insight into how diverse and interesting language teaching can be, and professional development showed how much more is needed by a potential teacher than simply knowledge of the subject they are to teach. Some of the most interesting lectures for me were those that dealt with the complexities of teaching and learning as a whole due to the differentiation in ability and interest from pupil to pupil. The three essays required during the year also provided useful insight into the professional, curricular and whole school requirements of being a teacher.

By far the most interesting but also most testing times, were those spent on teaching placement. No amount of lectures prepares you for the reality of the classroom. No amount of subject knowledge can help you if you are not able to control and make secure the environment the pupils are learning in and through this connect with them on a social level. Personality and temperament get tested to the limit with a group of Year 9's last lesson of the day!

I was lucky enough to be offered interviews by both of my placement schools for the available post of teacher of German. I eventually decided to take the job at my second teaching placement, where I started full time in September 2002. This has meant that for the three months of my teaching placement I spent a lot of time preparing myself for September and also I know who I'm working with, who I'm teaching, my way around the school and most importantly my form group. I already feel like an established teacher and this means that I am looking forward to the challenge that awaits me in my NQT year.