The accidental academic

The idea of pursuing a PhD — let alone becoming a professor — was once beyond the realm of my imagination. In my environment, university served a single purpose: training for a solid, practical profession. It was the only path I knew.

I followed it faithfully, earning a degree in a health-related field. Yet a sense of unease persisted. What followed was a ten-year odyssey through various specialisations — working with children, stroke patients, adults with intellectual disabilities — each move an attempt to find a niche that suited me. None ever did.

The outcome was predictable: a severe burnout. A decade in the wrong career is a recipe for collapse. 

I never imagined starting a PhD later in life, after a decade in another profession.

Yet, within that breaking point lay an unexpected gift. The catalyst that forced me to abandon the original path entirely and begin constructing another — one that led, improbably, to where I am now.

I decided to study languages, purely out of interest, with no career in mind. To my surprise, I discovered I had a talent for it — especially when it came to the analytical side. Writing my dissertation was not a chore but an adventure, one that culminated in my first academic conference, where my supervisor encouraged me to present my findings. 

Some conferences are supportive spaces for early-career researchers. Others are not. My introduction to academia was of the latter kind. The academics in the room were loud, confrontational, and impatient. During my presentation, I was interrupted twice by an aggressive academic — something that simply isn’t allowed at a conference. At the time, I was simply humiliated. I called my partner immediately afterwards, in tears, to say I was done with academia.

What puzzled me most was what happened next. That same academic sought me out over lunch and even complimented me on my work. I was bewildered. How could someone humiliate a junior researcher in public and then offer praise minutes later? Is this what academic life is like?

Stranger still, a few months later I received a phone call from an eminent professor collaborating with that same individual. They were looking for a research assistant for a new project and considered me an ideal candidate. Would I accept a two-year position?

 

I did. And that’s how I ended up in academia — and, alongside my work as a research assistant, began my own PhD.