At 49 years old, ‘early-career researcher’ is not a label I immediately connected to and possibly still don’t fully identify with. It did, however, succeed in getting me to reflect on my journey to the point where I am about to complete the first year of a full-time PhD. I have never been known for planning, and plans usually send me in the opposite direction. Perhaps that’s why Happenstance Learning Theory – and its acknowledgement that where we found ourselves is often an amalgam of aspects we have little or no control over, and those brought about by ourselves – holds some appeal.
However, upon deeper reflection, I realise that where I find myself now is not as haphazard and directionless as I initially thought. Instead, it is the start of the fulfilment of the dream of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in late 1980s South Africa – a dream that consisted of a PhD and an office lined with bookshelves, filled with books reflecting my first love, Psychology, followed closely by Astronomy and Ancient History. Books that speak to my continued delight in learning and my immense curiosity about the world.
