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 …
Connecting Online at UoN
May 24, 2024
As a mature student, the University of Nottingham’s English (Online) MA fitted my requirements for a post-graduate program of study. The reasons for my choice included: the flexibility around time and location; ability to choose my study pathway; academic rigour, and consistent support. However, there are challenges, or at least things to be aware of …
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 …
Moving From a Small Town to a City for University: Why it’s Not as Daunting as it Might Seem
April 24, 2024
When starting university, it can feel like everyone you meet is from London or bigger cities around the UK. They’re used to the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life; they know the transport network systems and they don’t even bat an eyelid when it comes to having Uber at your disposal. Even though everyone gets …
Coping With Your New “Adult” Life: How to Combat Feeling Overwhelmed
April 16, 2024
You’ve recently become an adult; you’ve arrived at university and living alone for the first time. What do you do? Of course, the initial week it’s exciting, you’re going to be socialising and exploring and not really thinking about much else. You might have started to get the knack of cooking by the end of …
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 …
How to Keep Going in Difficult Times
April 3, 2020
The past few weeks have been an adjustment to say the least. Thanks to Covid-19, the world has moved indoors, and university has gone online. It’s frustrating; it feels like a lot has been taken away from us. As students, we were told that these would be the best years of our lives, where we’d …
Career Curiosity
March 23, 2020
We are always changing. Always discovering new paths and deciding whether to pursue them. We’re on a train journey of deciding whether to get off at that station and explore the landscape or stay on the train to see what lies ahead. Most importantly, we are all different. We are all getting off at different …
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