The Graduate Research College (GRC) is home to researchers from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds, many of whom arrive at doctoral study by non-traditional routes. In this article, one such researcher reflects on the decision to begin a PhD later in life, balancing full-time employment, family commitments, and the demands of part-time doctoral study. Through a candid and engaging personal narrative, the piece explores research as a source of intellectual renewal, creative escape, and sustained motivation\u2014reminding us that passion for one\u2019s subject is often the most powerful driver of research success.<\/p>\n
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Bachelor\u2019s.\u00a0 Master\u2019s.\u00a0 Doctorate.\u00a0 That\u2019s the pattern, and that\u2019s how most people do it.\u00a0 My own nephew, fifteen years my junior, is currently in the final year of his own PhD at the University of East Anglia, and that was very much his journey.\u00a0 So what was it that made me, aged 39 when I began, decide that my life of teaching secondary school English, playing tabletop wargames and looking after my two young kids, was too easy?\u00a0 What was it that made me decide that actually, as well as doing those things, I should also complete a PhD, let alone via research-by-practice, a burgeoning discipline here at the University of Kent, but one that offers exciting opportunities?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If you asked my wife, she\u2019d tell you it was out of boredom \u2013 I\u2019ve been teaching nearly 20 years, and I like to think I\u2019ve gotten quite good at it, so perhaps it doesn\u2019t offer the challenges it once did.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And she\u2019s right.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If you asked my boss, a genuine inspiration to me, a man who holds a doctorate of his own in English Literature, he\u2019d say I don\u2019t feel intellectually stimulated enough, and that I\u2019m enough of an oddball but also an intellectual that a doctorate was the logical next step for me.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s also right.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And if you asked me?\u00a0 I\u2019d tell you I have always felt like a doctorate was something I\u2019d do eventually, once I found what I wanted to write about.\u00a0 And, sat on a long drive in 2024, alone in the car and listening to a podcast, I was hit with the germ of an idea.\u00a0 One I felt was unique, interesting and, above all, researchable.\u00a0 From that moment I was obsessed.\u00a0 I read voraciously, hunting down rare tomes, buying a Kindle Scribe (that\u2019s the Amazon version, other scribable e-readers are available, but highly recommended) and covering notebook after notebook in my barely legible scrawl.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Finding a supervisor was a challenge; my research is niche.\u00a0 Some would call it \u2018frivolous\u2019, as if that\u2019s a bad thing.\u00a0 And yet, I love it.\u00a0 It holds enough interest for me to focus on it in all of my spare time for several years.\u00a0 And that, dear reader, is the secret: if you love your research, yes it\u2019ll be hard work, but it\u2019ll never feel like a job.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n To me, now pushing 41, a part-time student with a family and a full-time job who is very rarely on campus and feels as distant from \u2018student life\u2019 as it\u2019s possible to be, my research has become an escape from the \u2018real world\u2019 of mortgages and parents\u2019 evenings.\u00a0 It\u2019s the most exciting part of my life, about which I am happy to speak at length to anyone whom will listen \u2013 and indeed to many who won\u2019t, as the passengers on today\u2019s 11.28 to St. Pancras will acknowledge \u2013 and that is what keeps me going when I\u2019ve got a heavy week at work and could really do without adding another 500 words to a thesis that is filled with imposter-syndrome and self-doubt.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n So, why am I doing it?\u00a0 Why should anyone do it?\u00a0 Because research is its own reward.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s usually the thing I think about when I\u2019m struggling to sleep, and the thing that inspires me with an idea upon waking up.\u00a0 And if your research isn\u2019t doing that for you at the moment \u2013 you\u2019re burnt out, exhausted, or stuck in a rut \u2013 then you need to go back to basics, what was it that got you excited about this in the first place?\u00a0 I\u2019ve spoken to researchers on the rare occasions I\u2019ve been on campus, and every time their research sounded fantastic, and so much more important than mine, and it was fantastic to see their eyes light up to explain what they were researching and the journey that brought them to it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n So maybe, if you\u2019re struggling to find your mojo, you just need to find someone to explain your research to.\u00a0 You\u2019ll soon find it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For me, research is an escape.\u00a0 Make it be whatever you need it to be, and it\u2019ll never feel like work.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Have a good one!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n P.S. Please do feel free to share your research with me \u2013 I love hearing from people who are passionate about their\u2026 well, their passions.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Joe\u2019s details please visit: Joe Payne – Graduate and Researcher College – University of Kent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"