Returning to university in 2024 feels like a different world to my undergraduate studies and master’s year. It’s more than just the workload being different – more pedantic and tedious in detail, more citations, more researching – and this has drastically reshaped my understanding of university life.

Let’s discuss the obvious first – a PhD is the most academic experience someone will have at university solely based on the work required of you as a researcher. You will scour hundreds of articles, journals, conference papers, books, theses, dissertations and more to understand the field and the work others have done, find the gaps, and convince others your research will fill those gaps. You will cite and refer to these works as part of your literature review (yes, it’s as threatening as it sounds), and my literature review will be on the meatier side from what I can foresee. Putting the PhD aside, the postgraduate paper I’m doing on Qualitative Research Methods is vastly different to my MCW research.

My MCW consisted of a thesis and an exegesis discussing the key points of my thesis and how I sought out books to support the structural and thematic elements of the story I was creating. This research component is nothing like the research methods paper. I’m learning things like ontology and epistemology, research paradigms and the multiple iterations of grounded theory. Next week, we are covering case studies, and then venturing into indigenous research methods and secondary sources later in the semester. This paper is all about being a researcher and learning how you will approach your research and what you will use to do it, providing the theory and the tools to use later on. It’s brilliant. You may think I’m crazy for seeing it as such, but I thrive in a learning environment, especially when it is not a straightforward topic that can be understood in one go. Being a researcher and understanding how you want to conduct your research is the foundation of academic studies, especially at a postgraduate level, and this has made me take several moments of introspection, something I rarely did at the undergraduate or master’s level.

I’ll note now that I completed my third undergraduate year and master’s year during COVID lockdowns and restrictions. The vibe shifted from the traditional social atmosphere to a separated, sanitised space where little to no mingling occurred. I remember my mindset in those two years concerning being in and out as soon as possible. I wasn’t that social at university when I was younger, and the desire to stay and work in the library or a computer suite went out the window with COVID’s arrival. Now I will gladly spend hours working next to like-minded people in the postgraduate workrooms. I want to utilise the resources at my fingertips – librarians and research advisors, support services, fellow PhD candidates, databases and unrestricted access to the knowledge and experience I need to help frame my research.

University also has a different feel now. It is almost like I’ve unveiled a secret room behind a bookshelf, exposing a different side to buildings I traversed years ago. The oldest building on campus is where the social sciences and humanities postgraduate rooms are. I attended lectures there during my undergraduate years. Frankly, I was disappointed that the building was old, cold and dingy, but now I find it comforting. There is a lovely view from the computer room overlooking the courtyard below, and the kitchen has beautiful views of the Sky Tower and Auckland City Library. I also discovered I could work from the museum if I wanted – a thirty-minute walk from campus – as there is a library you can work in, which means I can take breaks by perusing the exhibits and the gift shop before having a quick cup of coffee or tea and a treat. I can also visit the Wintergardens on my way to or from the museum for some extra beauty in my day. I’m very fortunate I can see the museum and gardens during a uni day, and while I’m in town, I think it is about time I looked around the bookstores that I know are there but have always been put aside in favour of returning home. I’ve only got this course for a couple more months, so I should optimise my time in town and the train fare.

I know I haven’t gone into great detail about the academics and how different it is between undergraduate and postgraduate. I want to post a separate discussion with more detail and examples to illustrate the differences between the two. Adding it into an already long reflection post seems like a waste, so look out for that if you are interested in the study discussions and academia side of this blog.