Podcast: No Singular Student
By the Library Student Team
This is part of ‘Life at University’. In this podcast, the Library Student Team shares their unique experiences as students at Manchester, including perspectives on commuter life, neurodiversity, caregiving responsibilities, mature student challenges, religious backgrounds and more! Last updated: July 2024.
TRANSCRIPT
Sammie: Hi, I’m Sammie, I’m doing an MA in English Literature and American Studies. There is no singular student because I was the first in my family to attend University. I’d enrolled through the support of the University’s Manchester Distance Access Scheme (MDAS), and when I started in 2019, I felt very nervous and like an imposter. Now I have completed my undergraduate studies and I’m about to graduate for a second time. So have faith in your ability and you deserve to be here. I mean, I’m proud of myself, and you should be proud of you!
Angelica: Hi, I’m Angelica and I’m studying Criminology. There is no such thing as a singular student, and that’s because I’m a South Asian Muslim woman, and throughout my degree I have prioritised my religion & even supported the Islamic society with their initiatives. I have embraced and celebrated my background at University, and you should do too! Be proud of who you are.
Syeda: Hi, I’m Syeda, I study Medicine and there is no singular student because this year I was a commuter student! Most of my friends live close to the University, but this hasn’t stopped me from feeling included; there are plenty of activities for me to participate in during the day. I see lots of people. What helped me to make friends was to speak to people on my course, and also, joining in with society activities. Everyone is in the same boat at the start, eager to make friends. So just smile and ask people for their social media, or if they maybe want to grab lunch together. It might take some time, but you will find your people!
Kai: I’m Kai Prince. I’m currently studying a part-time PhD in Mathematics, and did an integrated Masters at the University of Manchester. There is no singular student as I was a disabled student during my integrated Masters for depression, and then I was diagnosed with ADHD during my PhD. I decided to do a PhD because I’m slightly Maths-ochistic. I decided to do it part-time because I discovered that I need to be doing various projects simultaneously. Due to my experiences throughout my time in Higher Education, the projects outside of my PhD have focused around accessibility and making my own attempts in advocating the changes that have been repeatedly requested by students over the years.
Ashleigh: Hi, I’m Ashleigh and I’m studying Speech and Language Therapy, which is a part of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. There is no singular student, because although I’ve already had what I would consider a more standard student experience when I completed my first degree here a few years ago, I since had a child before returning for my second degree. This time around, I’m a mum, I live much further away from Uni, and I have to time everything from my commute to any part time work I do, around my daughter’s nursery opening and closing times. Being a student parent is a really different experience, as my priorities now are nothing like before. I’ve had to get a lot better at time management for one, so I feel quite confident in saying that I’ve experienced student life from various perspectives.
Rachel: Hi, my name is Rachel, I’m a 3rd year PhD student in Fashion Management and Marketing. There is no singular student, I was never gonna come to University and I only planned to come to University when I was literally in my sort of 2nd year of A-Levels, I decided it was the right choice for me because I wanted to sort of be in an academic environment, learn more about the fashion industry from an industrial perspective, what I didn’t expect to then want to do, is to actually continue onto sort of Masters and then PhD level, and I actually want to have a job in academic libraries as well, afterwards, so I’ve kind of stuck around, didn’t realise this is what I wanted to do. Throughout this entire journey as well, I found out that I was neurodivergent, with ADHD, it has finally made me realise a lot about myself, and I’ve also come to a huge self-acceptance journey, in that I really struggled at school when I was younger, I had my passionate topics and I had the things that I loved, but I always wondered why it just took me so much effort to get to places and to finally be at the age of 27, still being in a kind of academic environment, and to actually know it’s okay to do what I want to do, and be who I am, I’ve realised this has been one of the best choices that I have done. I have also rediscovered my love for creativity and music, so coming to a place like Manchester with all the music history, and after having been to many gigs in Manchester during my teens as well, it’s made me feel right at home and just really loved the place that I am at.
