Let me tell you a story:
I am currently studying for my PhD, examining the role that story plays in developing the human condition, and using tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons to highlight the power of oracy and collaborative storytelling. In the summer of 2022, I was fortunate enough to present this research at the ARPCE Conference held at Oxford University.
To say I was nervous was an understatement. As someone who has struggled with anxiety since my teenage years, the thought of presenting to academics at one of the most renowned universities in the world was almost too much to bear. However, I tried to focus on what an amazing opportunity it would be. I stood up in front of a room full of my peers and renowned researchers in my field, and I told my story of stories. There were nods of agreement at my points, polite laughs at my attempts at humour. Everything seemed to go by in a blur, and before I knew it my time was up. I said my closing words, and the audience clapped.
And I, a thirty-something male, curtsied. I don't know why. I put it down to panicking in the moment, caught between giving a brief bow and walking back to my seat. Somehow my body switched to autopilot and I curtsied.
This little story is something I have told many of my students over the last year, and every time it has been with purpose: to show that even I get very anxious still, but that the support I've had over the years has made my anxiety condition manageable; to show how poor grades at school do not mean that all paths become closed to you, as I had to resit a number of my exams, much like the GCSE resit learners I teach today. It has become an important tool in my teaching toolbox.
