Hi everyone... this is a bit of an off-my-chest post, so please bear with me.
I was recently accepted to a top-tier university in Japan, and I’m now a first-year student here. Academics have always been central to my life, even though I took a less linear path and spent years working in education policy and teaching on a side, before starting my PhD. I’m 35, studying in a different country and culture, and I’m genuinely motivated. I’m not coming into this naively, I understand how demanding this work is, and I’m grateful to even have the opportunity.
What has surprised me, though, is meeting so many peers who seem largely disengaged. Some are in their fourth year and still working on a r