It's not every day that you embark on a new adventure. But recently that day came for me. A few weeks ago, I started my PhD in Creative Writing.
That's a surreal sentence in itself - I am a PhD Student!
If you'd asked me five years ago, when I was in my first year of my BA, if I'd do a PhD, I probably would have laughed. Like any first year student, I was just trying to survive and get the best marks possible. In my heart I knew I'd love to do a MA. Even at that point, I knew that I'd want to pursue academia further than my BA. Then when my MA began in 2020, after the first crazy six months of the pandemic, I knew even then that I wanted to go further. Within days of starting, I was certain that my academic journey wasn't to be over in a year.
On Teams on a drizzly Tuesday morning, I speak to one of my lecturers, she asks me about why I want to do a PhD. At the time the idea stills seems wild and whirling, whizzing inside my head, but I'm honest and say "I've not finished learning". Her face lights up and she smiles in agreement. Now I'm delighted to say that this lecturer is one of my PhD supervisors.
It was a long process, but as of January 2023, I am a student once again. Some people would attach negative connotations to that statement, but I couldn't disagree more. To be a student again is to continue down a route on the map that I never expected to take, and yet makes perfect sense. This is a stepping stone into a world of learning, sharing, writing and helping people with their writing, too.
Stepping back onto campus for the first time in January, I took a deep breath, gazing up at the Victorian stone that frames Bangor's silhouette in a mountainous and coastal landscape. "Yes, this is right," I thought. It's interesting how paths twist and turn, redirecting you through an alternative route to your destination. This won't be easy and the road will be filled with potholes and bends, but I for one am looking forward to where it takes me.
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