Getting to know Paul Wiltshire - lecturer of Journalism

“I used to fall asleep in Politics lectures.” These words come from Paul Wiltshire, teacher of Politics for Journalists. He has a sort of half-guilty grin plastered across his face as he tells his journalism students about life at Aberystwyth University. It was almost as if he wanted to get this confession off his conscience, because it had no real relevance to what we had previously been talking about. He blurted it out quickly and promptly after telling us that he had gone to Wales to study English, something that also made him laugh as it was so ironic.

There was a moment of reminiscing as Paul chuckled whilst reflecting on his University days, as we sat in the middle of the University of Gloucestershire refectory surrounded by a sea of students.

This university has been home to Paul for just under three years, and when asked what he finds most rewarding from his job as a lecturer, it's no secret that the students make his career worthwhile. He's always happy to help, I suppose any lecturer is really, but Paul goes the extra mile to ensure his students are confident in their work and in themselves.

"I think that’s the biggest buzz, is seeing people grow in confidence and skill, and also helping people cope. That makes me feel happy and fulfilled, if someone comes with a problem and we’ve kind of sorted it out a bit, or begin to sort it out a bit."

We were interested to find out more about Paul's life before Gloucestershire University, what he was like before the world of journalism, politics and ethics, but that just is Paul Wiltshire in a nutshell.

"Yeah [it's always been journalism] pretty much from school really. I edited school magazines, I turned our school magazine into a left-wing, anti-nuclear publication. When I was a scout I even turned the newsletter into an anti-nuclear publication" He said this with a huge smile on his face, as if this was something he was majorly proud of.

As much as journalism is a well-loved part of Paul's life, he didn't beat around the bush when we asked if he had ever wanted to say goodbye to it altogether.

"From time to time I fell out of love with it... [when driving to work] I could almost feel my car trying to go into reverse, thinking ‘I don’t wanna do this anymore.’ It didn’t last, clearly"

If there's something that puts a funny image into your head, it's imagining your senior lecturer out on the town. Of course, when we heard that Paul used to fall asleep in his lectures, we immediately wanted to know if he experienced nightlife much while he was at university. "Of course, I [went out at uni] yeah, very much so. I used to do lots of pub crawls. That was the first time I told my wife I loved her was after id been on a pub crawl for about 12 hours. I did mean it, even if I was pissed."

We were able to witness a personality full of passion and enthusiasm when hearing about specific areas of his career. Ethics is something that he has a high regard for and believes in immensely. "I just think we should treat people properly really. That’s what I love about regional journalism, you write about somebody, go out and bump into them in the street and have to look them in the eye and justify what you've written about them, and if you treat people properly, they’ll come back to you with more stories. I think we should treat people the way you want to be treated yourself."

One of the great things that came across in this interview, and comes across in life is Paul's fantastic sense of humour. He has a certain laugh, and you can just tell it's him from a mile away. It's more of a deafening roar, really. One that makes you jump at first, but it's recognisable and contagious nonetheless. When you're a student and deadlines are looming, it's refreshing to attend a lecture or seminar where the teacher isn't always so serious and can have a bit of banter with the class. We wanted to know what advice Paul would give to his younger self if he could, in terms of his career.

"Um, try to keep your hair." Said the bald-headed man, laughing. He also joked that his favourite thing to do in his spare time was to drink, before answering seriously that it was to spend quality time with his family.