Starting university when you have no idea what to expect is daunting. I remember my induction session in the aptly named ‘Council Chamber’ of Cardiff University’s Glamorgan Building. Seats arranged in a semi-circle, stone walls awash with imposing paintings, regal red carpets and chairs – I remember saying to myself ‘so this is what university is like’. I stared in awe at the two stone sculptures of men that frame the front of this room as I tried to take in induction information. It was as though a different language was needed here to get by. As I traipsed around rooms signing myself up to seminars for semester one, I did not even know what a seminar was, let alone a semester.
Fast-forward three years and I was back again, this time for postgraduate induction. This time, I thought to myself, I have some mastery, some understanding of how this institution works. This slowly dissipated as I immersed myself further in academia. Attending conferences, keynote speeches, wine receptions, research grants, the Research Excellence Framework, publication processes – another world entirely. I vividly remember finding out what a viva examination was in the first year of my PhD and thinking ‘if I had known about that, I would not have signed up for this!’. Entering academia when you are the first in your family to do so is like constantly treading water to stay afloat. It requires a constant effort to understand and carefully manage the world around you, otherwise you sink.
