When I commenced studying at university, I did not yet have the language to call myself “disabled scholar.” I just knew that my life had been split into “before” and “after” a brain tumour, and that I was trying to rebuild a future for myself and my family in a body and brain that no longer worked the way they used to. As a mother of four, a brain tumour survivor, and now a student, I carried competing identities into every classroom and hospital waiting room. Higher education became less a straightforward path to a qualification and more an ongoing experiment in how to learn, parent, heal, and advocate simultaneously.
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Forming my Identity within Academia by May Yeung
Academia is a highly competitive battleground like no other. It is costly, not only financially, but also emotionally, riddled with rigorous long-term pressures in isolation. With the added pressures of employment and motherhood, life can become incredibly challenging, wholly incompatible with mental health. Unsurprisingly, not everyone thrives in this arena as evident in the high attrition rates. In fact, I have questioned my own progress many times along the way. So far, I have found that it is also a battle with oneself: the ability to endure, to persevere, and to remain resilient.
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Voices of Academia 