A moment that changed me: the Brexit result came through and my life in Britain fell apart

"In the early hours of Friday 24 June 2016, the result glowed on my phone: 52%. Barely a majority, but nonetheless a verdict. I lay in my rented bedroom in Devon, still in pyjamas, watching everything I'd planned dissolve. When I saw the headline UK votes to leave EU, my first thought wasn't political. It was: What does this mean for me? It was the final day of my second school placement, the culmination of my teacher training for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)."

"I'd moved from Germany the year before to train as a Religious Education teacher, convinced I'd found a profession and a place to call home. In Germany, RE meant teaching Protestant children Protestantism or Catholic children Catholicism separate lessons, separate truths. Here, I could teach all major faiths side by side, invite discussion and let curiosity lead the lesson. In a world pulling itself apart along religious and cultural lines, that felt like the better approach."

"That morning, I had my first proper teaching job lined up, a mortgage application in progress and then a sudden, sick sense that it might all vanish in the uncertainty of a country rewriting its terms of belonging. I drove to school on autopilot. In the staff car park, someone had chalked Take back control across the asphalt. Two year 9 boys spotted me in the schoolyard and called out: Miss! Now you'll have to go home!"

A German trainee Religious Education teacher in the UK experienced immediate personal and professional insecurity after the 2016 Leave vote. The trainee had planned to settle, secured a first proper teaching job and a mortgage application, and had adapted to teaching multiple faiths side-by-side. The referendum result triggered fear that employment, housing and belonging might vanish amid changing immigration terms. The trainee encountered public messages like 'Take back control' and taunts from pupils suggesting deportation, while colleagues offered silent physical comfort that underscored sudden vulnerability. The experience contrasted expectations of inclusive, discussion-led Religious Education with a harsher societal climate.

Read at www.theguardian.com