The Beginning of the Journey

PhD Year 1, Semester 1

I began my PhD studies this September and I’m still in disbelief that I’m actually doing it. I started the application process when I was going through one of the most difficult times of my life. I was temporarily living with my sister-friend Mardieh and her roommate Nuri— both PhD students in London. I had separated from a toxic marriage, was battling depression, all while trying to figure out my next steps in life. Somehow, I managed to pull it together with the encouragement of friends who had all undergone the application process before. In the end, I was admitted in the Geography Department at the University of Manchester in England.

The initial plan was to go at it full throttle. Leave London, move 5 hours up north to Manchester, and fully immerse myself into PhD life. As with everything else, COVID had other plans. So here I am, not in Manchester, at my parents’ house in St. Joseph Michigan, fully immersed in Zoom hell.

Mardieh’s number one advice to me was to treat the PhD like a 9-5 and I’ve done just that. Well, sort of. Since my university is based in the U.K, my working hours begin 5 hours ahead of my time zone in the States. Therefore, from Monday- Friday, I am often up from 5am or 6am until 10pm— working most of the day. On top of this, my primary supervisor is based in Australia +13 hours and my second supervisor is based in England +5 hours which means that our bi-weekly joint meetings start at 6 or 7am. I spend the first half of my morning on Zoom classes, meetings etc. Then the second half of the day is met with actual “PhD work” which is drawn from my to-do list that often gets carried over to the next day. I’ve become a slave to google calendar (literally!). On top of this, I am a Widening Participation Fellow—a job I applied to prior to the start of the semester. The fellowship involves developing and delivering activities to inspire and engage school and college students from across Greater Manchester. Additionally, as a freelance researcher, I am also juggling work from clients. Oh— and let’s not forget writing and publishing Janjay goes Upriver, blogging, running a book club…..I’m tired just writing this sentence.

The first week, I was met with lots of confusion and I felt very overwhelmed. However, through the Zoom world, I have managed to meet people and make friends which has really helped with my mental health. My first group of new friends are Black PhD students across the U.K known as West African Research Collective-U.K (WARC_UK). This is an incredibly important network for me because, “According to HESA data, there are around 350 Black female professors in the UK, out of a total number of 18,000 professors across the UK, meaning that Black women make up less than 2% of the professoriate in Higher Education." The Guardian reported earlier this year that, “ fewer than 1% UK professors are Black.” A member of WARC_UK recruited me on Twitter and introduced me to the group via Whats App. We hold weekly zoom calls just to check-in and sometimes host Black guest speakers who are successful in their industries to inspire us. The majority of the people in the group are studying STEM subjects and examining really interesting research that will address issues that disproportionately affect Black people . I’m honestly motivated by being a part of this group.

The Geography cohort is made up of 5 students this semester— much smaller than anticipated due to COVID deferment. We managed to all “meet” this summer through social media and have formed a Whats App group. We have periodic zoom meet ups just to chat. We check on one another daily and text during “Zoom classes” which is a bit like passing notes behind the teacher’s back. It’s a real support group and I’m happy we have managed to form a connection although most of us have not met in person. Now in week 5, I think I am a bit more calmer, even with the laptop issues (definitely time for a new Macbook with more storage for all these statistical packages). Nonetheless, I feel like I am settling in. I’m confident in my supervisors and our relationship to get me through this. I underestimated how much work is involved in doing a PhD ( cocky, I know) . I am enjoying the process and looking forward to the journey.

~Signed Chantal Victoria — Writer, Publisher, and Academic.