By Eithne Cullen
Welcome to Thoughtful Tuesday’s first page of 2026. Here’s hoping your January has been good so far, and the rest of this year is an exciting and creative one for us all.
We’re starting the new year off with a very appropriate theme: ‘Choices.’ It’s a special time, when lots of us think of the choices we make and the resolutions we set for ourselves.
Today’s pieces are in keeping with the choice of how we see ourselves and how others see us, too.
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First up, here’s Pen to Print poet, Mary, writing about how she’s learned to call herself a poet.
Hello I’m A Poet
“Now I’m a poet.”
I spill the truth
“I’ve written them since
I was in my youth.”
Stunned silence, the listener
with a glazed confused eye says
“Well go on then…”
“What?”
“Tell me a poem.”
So, I search for a line
Of sea and of shells
reciting a poem I had in my head.
The listener’s face changes
As I hit the right stream
recognisable, relatable
reaching their dreams.
Sometimes when I’m reciting
a tear comes to their eye
as I hit a feeling, they thought had gone dry.
So, I wear the label of poet
Proud on my arm
I never knew what I wanted to be,
going through life with jobs that weren’t me
till I took up a pen, put life on a page
I’m a Poet, A Poet, A POET! With a capital P
© Mary L Walsh, 2025
Connect with Mary on Instagram: @Maryelwa60
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While we were talking about choosing which self we present to the world, Pen to Print’s very own Lisa was reminded of how she was once labelled at work.
Me And The Clipboard!
I don’t know why, but I always felt it was important and professional having a clipboard to hand when facilitating events in the library.
Sheer panic would hit me if it went missing with all my notes on – it was my event-planning lifeline!
Attached was always something I could re-write or print again, so did I really need it?
The obsession stopped years ago; I don’t know how or when. Perhaps it was when I became more confident and my role more defined, or because I found a love for Post It Notes instead!
© Lisa Roullier, 2025
Connect with Lisa on Instagram: @lisalovesbooksx
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In this story from Pen to Print writer Rebecca, we see someone choosing how to fit in to a new job. I’ve always thought about how we pause and think ‘I’m going to be…’ when we cross the threshold of a new workplace. There are lots of things in her piece we can relate to, remembering to put ourselves into our roles.
Anna’s Choice
Anna brushed her long glossy brown hair slowly, admiring her reflection in the new wardrobe she’d recently bought. Well, she was a headteacher now, she could have nice things. Sighing, she turned away from admiring her new purple suit as she heard her cat making choking noises downstairs. “Please God, not a mouse,” she prayed, straightening her blouse as she went down.
It wasn’t. ‘Nothing to worry about,’ she thought. ‘I am capable, I am ready, I am a woman who can run a school and pull off a purple suit.’
By the end of the first week, Anna had perfected the suits, with bright blues alongside the purple. She’d led her first staff meeting and leadership meeting and everybody had been complimentary.
It started to become harder the following week. A teacher she’d thought understood her aims came to her room and told her everything she was doing wrong. She’d assumed the woman was just popping in for a chat.
Afterwards, she straightened, thought, ‘I am NOT upset,’ and left her office at such a brisk trot she nearly collided with her deputy.
“Clare! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed.
“Everything all right?” the older woman asked.
“In a hurry, catch you at the curriculum briefing!”
Anna swam on: meeting, greeting, smiling, juggling. Her mentor came from the school down the road and she told him everything was OK. And it was. Nothing she couldn’t handle.
Things got worse: the criticism, the doubt, the crushing loneliness of it all. Out for drinks, she snapped at friends. They said they’d been praying for her but she couldn’t see it. (
“Not praying for ‘stuff’, praying for you,” her friend Mona sighed.
Anna shrugged. “I hear what you’re saying, but it’s the ‘stuff’ I need prayer for.”
“But it’s who you are that’s important. I’m not sure anyone is seeing the real Anna now. My humble friend who laughs at herself, talks to everyone, pulls people in.”
“I can’t be that at work,” Anna grumbled, but Mona didn’t understand.
‘It’s OK,’ she thought every Monday, picking out another spotless blouse. ‘It’ll get better.’
She powered through the next week (borough meetings, a SEND review, the school play) on coffee and adrenaline. This was who she was now. Then, halfway through a meeting with her deputy, she realised she hadn’t heard a word the woman had said.
Clare looked at her. “Are you all right?” she asked.
Anna started crying as though she’d never stop. “It’s all gone wrong,” she sobbed. “Everyone hates me.”
“They really don’t,” said Clare, ripping open a pack of chocolate digestives she found in the cupboard. “But I think they’d be surprised to hear that you care what they think.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re like a human dynamo: one thing finishes and the next three are already starting. I haven’t seen you crack a proper smile since that first meeting.”
“But I have to keep it all going, or it’ll go wrong.”
“And?” Clare laughed. “We had a terrible review when the old head started, picked ourselves up and the next one was better. It won’t kill anyone if a meeting or a book-look gets postponed.”
“What will people think, though?”
“Well, frankly, I’m relieved you’re human. The times I’ve thought about showing you pictures of my grandson, then thought you probably wouldn’t have time. Or find him as funny as I do.”
“I’d love to see them! And I’ve got a million funny cat pics,” Anna laughed. The interview panel had chosen her; God had chosen her. The right choice had already been made. “Come on, Clare,” she said, pulling on her scarf. “Let’s get a coffee, and not a word about data!”
© Rebecca Seaton, 2025
Connect with Rebecca on Instagram: @rebecca.seaton.9
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Our final piece, from Write On! Extra regular Vic Howard, is a serious look at how turning to AI to ‘help’ with academic studies is a choice that needs careful thought.
Choose Wisely
A recent study carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found that people who relied on AI to write reports, find answers to questions or assist in any way with work, had a reduced ability for independent reasoning, compared with those who did not. AI used in this way is not just an assistant; it becomes a usurper of abilities. A student who relies on AI to produce answers and written work for their tutor is not taking education seriously. They might think they are fooling their tutor but are, in fact, fooling themselves. What use is a university degree achieved in this way? No wonder there is a growing number of BA holders delivering pizzas on motorcycles!
It is generally believed AI will one day replace humans in most desk jobs, sometimes called mundane intellectual labour. This is a frightening thought in itself, but employing AI to learn how to do this type of work and paying a high price for a university education that will soon be worthless, is quite simply insane. What, then, is the answer? Abandon the idea of a university education, or take the work seriously and try to stay ahead in the game?
Education ought to be an end in itself and still can be, if taken seriously, but if you are looking for work and think a BA in a non-technical subject will get you work, and you are prepared to cheat to get it, think again. Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called godfather of AI, when asked what he would advise a student to study who wanted work, said: “Plumbing.”It will be some time before robots with enough brain capacity and manual dexterity will be available to replace a plumber. Almost any white-collar worker, in comparison, is in greater danger of unemployment.
Humanity, it seems, is in an even greater hurry to be replaced by AI. There is now a trend to buy and sell services designed to cheat the university system. If you have more money than moral values, you can buy original work created by well-educated writers. Simple coursework articles and reports are available for a few pounds. A PhD thesis, however, will set you back about £20,000. It would be worthless, of course, and could lead to damaging embarrassment, but that won’t bother you.
One supplier of such work, an Englishman now living in Dubai, says he has made millions selling written work. He has an army of ready suppliers: people who have been properly educated, who are willing to prostitute their abilities for a few pounds. Can there be any hope for humanity in the face of AI, when it is devaluing its intellectual capacity in this way?
Before you decide to run up a debt you will never be able to pay back in your lifetime, consider your choices carefully.
© Vic Howard, 2025
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I hope the pieces I’ve chosen to share with you have entertained you in some way. There’s certainly a lot of food for thought as we step, firmly and confidently, into 2026!
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Issue 27, featuring eco-poet Sarah Westcott is out now. You will be able to find it in libraries and other outlets. Alternatively, all current and previous editions can be found on our magazines page here.
You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo or find us on Spotify.
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