How do I work on my essay?
June 27, 2024
“Okay settle down everyone, I have an announcement to make! The assessments are now approaching. And the thought of essays is starting to haunt us,” Observer Yasmin declared as she sat at the big round table with all the other Yasmins. Yes, there was nothing else in the room except for that round table and …
How I Get Started With Independent Study
June 19, 2024
The biggest change when coming to university is the increased level of independent study that is expected of us. This ranges from seminar preparation, reading or completing further research. We are also expected to juggle our social calendars and find time for ourselves. This often leaves me with the question, ‘where do I start?’. However, …
Taking on The Big PhD: Full-Time or Part-Time?
June 14, 2024
So, you’ve decided to take on a PhD… Your Nan’s told everyone at bingo how “our Nelly’s going to be a doctor!”, your Uncle Steve can’t see the point unless ‘Doctor’ means you can sort out his ingrowing toenail situation, and your Mum’s ecstatic. At least her ‘clever genes’ have passed on to one of …
The Balancing Path
June 5, 2024
University, the land of opportunity. You finally crested the hill of qualifications, applications, decisions, and dilemmas; it’s time to choose your own path. You breathe a sigh of relief and gaze out at the horizon ahead; its shifting colours and flashes of light are indistinct, but promising. As September arrives and the leaves start to …
Rhizome Thinking
May 3, 2024
One of the joys of university is learning how to think differently. In this blog, I’d like to offer Study is a Rhizomeas as a rich conceptual metaphor for thinking about studying. Conceptual metaphors are useful for understanding abstract concepts. They were investigated by Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By and today are …
Thinking about the future when time has lost all shape and predictability
April 21, 2021
English degrees don’t outline a select career path. We’ve all heard the jokes with that central gist, that the only thing to do with an English degree is to become a teacher (no shade implied; I have nothing but respect for the profession!). Of course, there are plenty of other jobs available to us too. …
Being Kind To Yourself – Coping With Normality In Changing Times
February 5, 2021
‘Coping with normality’ seems like an odd phrase, but it is one that is needed in these unprecedented times as tasks which seemed simple pre-2020 now seem like a challenge. Everybody knows that 2020 was a year like no other, and going into 2021 I do believe that we need to be kinder to ourselves …
Confessions of an escapism artist – handling escapism while social distancing
June 25, 2020
At times like these, the urge to escape from the world is greater than ever. This may be through TV, books, games, music… anything that might help someone mentally escape from the reality. And with modern technology, it is all too easy to achieve. You may not even recognise that you are doing it. It’s …
Beyond the Books: What Has University Taught Me?
June 11, 2020
Besides (hopefully) gaining an English degree, going to University has taught me so much. From theatre practitioners, the Irish Literary Revival and the works of Alexander Pope, to key poetic techniques and the acquisition of children’s language, my degree’s breadth has equipped me with vital analytical and critical skills. Yet my University education certainly went …
Mental Health Awareness in the English Department
June 8, 2020
Becky Cameron is known for sending out emails. In fact, any English student’s emails are most definitely 60% Becky Cameron, which I say with the utmost fondness – especially after the day she organised on the 12th of March 2020. I always find myself a little sceptical of Mental Health Awareness week. It sometimes feels …
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