Harriet
My love of science fiction and maths inspired me to choose a Physics degree. I was always good at maths and wanted to apply this to something rather than just do maths for maths sake, and Physics is the closest we can get to science fiction in the real world! The course is challenging, the content is difficult and the workload is tough. However, the content is so interesting and the feeling you get when you finally understand a complex concept makes the course really very rewarding. It was a great feeling when I realised I could understand some of the maths on the chalk boards in the Oppenheimer film!
The course has a high number of contact hours but also requires a lot of independent study, so time management is key. This is especially important if you want to maintain hobbies, extracurricular activities or a part time job. I found that I could not commit to a part time job with a lot of contracted hours e.g. bar or retail work. Instead I worked as a private tutor which was a rewarding and flexible job that fitted in well alongside my studies. For extracurriculars, I focused mainly on 2 societies: Physics Society and Band Society. Physics society is great for making friends on your course but also getting to know Physics students from other years. As they know how tough the course is, the social events are easy to fit in around studying. As part of band society, I am in a band that practices each week and perform at open mic nights when we can. I had to plan my time and manage deadlines well to ensure that I always had that time each week to practice with my band.
As the course is intense and challenging, it’s not possible to keep up with lots of extracurricular activities so it’s important to pick a few that are really important to you and focus your spare time on them.
Managing a disability alongside studies takes careful planning and time management. The nature of my disability means that I get tired a lot quicker than most people. Therefore, I have to plan when is best for me to work. For example, I know that I will be too tired after a lab session to do any work so I block out that time to rest and schedule in time earlier in the week or on the weekend to do extra work to make up for this.
Campus isn’t always the easiest to navigate from an accessibility point of you, there’s lots of stairs everywhere around some of the older buildings. However, there is at least a 10 minute gap between lectures and seminars so there is plenty of time to navigate this and find accessible routes.
My experience with the disability services at the university has been generally very good. They contacted me before term started in September and set up a Teams meeting where we could discuss any accommodations that I would need. For example, I get extra time, rest breaks and access to a word processor for exams and more relaxed rules on handwriting and extensions for assignments. They also set up a fire emergency plan so that I knew what to do and how to manage my mobility issues in the event of a fire. All of this gave me a lot of reassurance.
The only thing I have found slightly inaccessible is lab work. It’s very hands-on and at times I have found some of the practical work very difficult causing me to need to rely on my lab partner to complete some tasks. This can be a bit discouraging but if you have an understanding lab partner this isn’t too much of an issue in terms of completing labs.
Managing a disability while studying does make it more challenging, but there are accommodations in place to help you and with some time management it is possible to succeed in your studies.
In my experience, coming from an all-girls school into a largely male environment was a bit of a culture shock, but certainly not as intimidating as I thought it would be. As there are less of us, the girls on the course grouped together for the first few weeks of first term and we all got to know each other. Very quickly a Physics girls group chat was set up and it felt a very supportive environment where we could get help with the work or ask any questions we had. The Physics Society also run many women’s events throughout the academic year that allow you to connect with other female students from your own year group but also other year groups. There definitely felt a sense of community amongst the female students.
Despite the largely male environment, I did not feel intimidated coming into this degree. The staff are all very welcoming and I did not feel like I was thought less of for being a woman, from staff or student.
My advice to any female students concerned about starting a degree in a normally male dominated field would be to know your worth and find a supportive community. In finding a supportive group of people around you who lift you up and celebrate your wins with you, you’ll be able to work through the difficult parts of the course and the things that feel intimidating. I found myself in a very close group of friends who want more than anything else for each other to succeed and it has made such a difference to my degree experience. You deserve to be on that course just as much as anybody else, you proved your worth simply by getting the grades to get on this course and by working hard there will be no limit to what you can achieve!