Head of Physics and mother of three, Arabi Karteepan shares how maintaining a strong sense of professional identity during her third parental leave enabled her to continue to role model for women in STEM, supported her during more difficult times and helped her to re-evaluate different aspects of her life for the better.

As Head of Physics at Croydon High School for Girls and Founder and Director of Astrogazers, a space science co-curricular club, I was juggling quite a lot simultaneously as a mother to two daughters aged 7 and 11. Back in September 2023, I successfully led Astrogazers to be the first school in the UK to launch and retrieve two weather balloons which had reached the edge of space. Since then, I have been leading Mission Pegasus, an ambitious initiative for Astrogazers to become the first all-girl school in the world to design, build and launch a CubeSat into space.

 And then, on 26th December 2024, I found out I was pregnant with my third child.  I had always seen myself as a mother of two as I never thought I could cope with the physical,

emotional and financial challenges a third time. Turns out, my third pregnancy made me learn a lot about myself, break all the barriers I placed in front of myself and most importantly, made me re-evaluate every aspect of my life (for the better).

As an award-winning educator pioneering a world’s first all-girls school space mission to inspire the next generation of girls in STEM, I could not let my maternity leave lose the momentum of Mission Pegasus. Additionally, I planned to work on a few projects during my maternity leave. I notified my Head and the girls in Astrogazers that I would continue to work on the mission to ensure that it progressed. I did just that!

However, though I experienced moments of joys with my newborn son during my maternity leave, I was diagnosed with post-natal depression (PND).  The root cause were the toxic comments from older members of the family and community.  After working with my GP, accessing counselling and receiving support from a wider team, I made the decision to remove individuals from my life, even though this would be perceived to be an unpopular decision to make considering my Sri Lankan heritage and societal expectations that come bound with it.  But I felt I had the inner strength to do what was right for my own mental health wellbeing.

Working on Astrogazers, journaling, counselling and CBT helped me. It gave me a source of strength and happiness and enabled me to hang onto my identity.  Though it meant juggling things and working during breastfeeding, nap times, school runs, parenting my daughters and sleep schedules, getting to the point of completing the CPD courses and Astrogazers work was personally rewarding. 

There were so many milestones and achievements over the course of the year in for myself, personally, and in our Astrogazers journey.

This included being interviewed about Astrogazers by the BBC when my son was 7 weeks old. I agreed to this and immediately scheduled meetings with Astrogazers and our STEM partners to prepare for this. I brought my son with me whilst being interviewed and it was a relief that he was asleep the whole time.

In October 2025, I received the Institute of Physics Teachers of Physics Award, attended the ceremony and the IOP were very accommodating towards me as I was bringing my son with me as I was exclusively breastfeeding.

Since July I had been in contact with Natasha Iron’s office to arrange her visit to the school. I arranged meetings with pupils and staff to prepare for this visit.  I was incredibly moved by how my school made provisions and found a staff member who had experience working in day care to take care of my baby during the MP’s visit. By the end of the visit, I was moved to tears as to how my school accommodated me and my baby at a time of need.

Getting free tickets for Astrogazers and myself to attend the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures being delivered by Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock was a dream come true. It was a full-circle moment as I grew up watching the lectures on TV every year with my mother. I planned the trip alongside my colleague and the Royal Institution were incredibly accommodating for me and my baby.

I was honoured to be invited as Guest of Honour at the 42nd Annual Show of Croydon Academy of Eastern Arts. Having grown up in the UK within the British Tamil community, I attended Tamil school weekly and took part in cultural shows – I never imagined that I would one day give a speech as a Guest of Honour. During my address, I reflected on the importance of perseverance and shared the story of Mission Aspiration — our Astrogazers weather balloon launch to the edge of space — and the lesson it taught us: failure is part of the journey to success.

During the last week of my maternity leave, I was honoured to receive the STEM Award as part of the 2026 King’s College London Distinguished Alumni Awards. To be recognised alongside such an exceptional group of award winners, and among the distinguished alumni in previous years, was truly special.

My personal fuel is powered by the work I do when I am at school with the girls. Though I was working in a sense during my maternity leave, I realised that I was lacking the girl’s energies and interactions which essentially fuels me to have the strength to overcome any challenges, both on the personal and work front.

I now fully comprehend my mother’s final words – my identity is very much tied to the work I do. To be boxed into an identity of being only a mother and wife at the beginning of my maternity leave was difficult and I was keen not to lose my identity. I wanted to keep a part of my identity and that part was Astrogazers.