rosie cossins

I am not a barista, but I do have a connection to coffee and so to this community. Six years ago, I began a weekend/holiday job working in a very English, very vintage tea shop. But having never really had a taste for tea, it was always the coffee and the process of making it that interested me. I still remember the day the tea shop invested in a proper coffee machine, using freshly ground coffee beans and steamed milk – up until that point we would just press a button on a machine, and out would come to a latte. I jumped at the opportunity of learning how to make coffee properly. Whilst I am no expert, I loved making coffee for all of our customers. The job developed my confidence and my life skills and enabled me to meet so many different people over the years. Whilst I think my time at the tea shop may be coming to an end soon, it will always be a place I remember.

I am still so young and have been lucky to have not faced real hardship, so the biggest challenges for me in my life have been throughout my education and now, the early stages of pursuing my career after I graduate. Succeeding in my A-Levels and attending the university of my choice has been both a challenge and the thing I am the most proud of.

The pandemic was obviously a huge unforeseen event for everybody, but I am proud of what I have achieved in the past 6 months. With other opportunities cancelled, I made it my mission to continue learning and growing – from taking on volunteering work, reading more books than I have read in a while, to now having almost completed two virtual internships. To spend 6 months at home with my family was a big silver lining! I love my family and my friends; they will always be an important constant in my life, amidst all the unconstant things that life brings.

I am not sure what my future looks like… I would like to hope that I will be living in a city that I love, with a job that I love, but with all the uncertainty right now, I have no idea what life will be like when I graduate in less than a year’s time. I do not consider myself to be someone with great life advice – at the age of 20, I should have a lot more to experience. Something I try to remember each day is that I have to keep doing the best that I can every day, in the hope that my future self will thank me.