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Otago Daily Times
13-07-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
After a drawn-out battle, triumph beckons
The United Kingdom finds itself, once again, in the uncomfortably sweaty embrace of a heatwave. Edinburgh, a city built for haar, drizzle and existential melancholy, now shimmers with the heat. The grey stones of Leith have acquired a new hue in the golden sunshine. Pale Edinburgers have shed their woolly layers and have emerged, blinking, into the sunlight. I have no doubt the Meadows is currently a patchwork of charred sausages and sunburned students lazing out on the grass. Alas, I do not have the time to ascertain this myself. Instead of frolicking by the seaside or lying stretched out under a tree in Pilrig Park, I am trapped inside the cool quiet of my room, hunched over my desk, typing away furiously on my battered laptop. I am not deranged; I am a university student once again, making a final attempt to finish off a master's thesis I abandoned four years ago. Four years ago I was desperately depressed, anxiety-ridden, and seriously ill with ME/CFS and Long Covid. I was in the final stretch of my second master's degree — this one in global and imperial history — at the University of Oxford. The expectation was clear: to produce a well-researched and original thesis of 15,000 words. I was decidedly not capable of this. I was barely capable of showering or feeding myself. I was, of course, not merely a victim of my circumstances. I certainly could have been a better student; I could have applied myself more, drunk less, spent more time in the library instead of bars. But my father had just suffered his first heart attack — the second would end his life, two years later — and I was far from home, unable to return to New Zealand because of brutal Covid-19 border restrictions. Add to this my family's Luddite tendencies (I went several days without receiving news of my dad's health status), and you can perhaps understand why I wasn't best placed to meet the demands of an Oxford thesis. I can understand why some readers might view my struggles at Oxford as indulgent, ungrateful or pedantic. After all, I was awarded the immense privilege of a Rhodes Scholarship, an opportunity sought after by many but afforded to few. I am deeply aware of how fortunate I am. I could never have afforded to study overseas, let alone at a university as prestigious as Oxford. But those who are quick to judge often overlook — or choose not to understand — that gratitude and suffering can coexist. I have struggled with chronic depression for the better part of my life. When I arrived in Oxford, I was also grappling with CPTSD following the death of my brother by suicide only a few years earlier. I was also physically unwell with ME/CFS, battling thick, weighty fatigue. I could barely stay awake in lectures, and my brain fog made it nigh-impossible to form coherent sentences, let alone write postgraduate essays. My gratitude for the opportunity was — and still is — genuine, but it doesn't negate the deep and debilitating reality I was living through. After withdrawing from my studies, I felt a complex mix of relief, confusion and freedom. Most of all, I felt like an abject failure. Up until that point, my sense of self-worth had been almost entirely dictated by my academic and professional successes. And yet here I was, giving up on my Oxford dreams. I was a flop, a Rhodes Scholar with nothing to show for it but a glut of doctor's notes, joint pain and an unfinished thesis. In the intervening years I returned to working on the "other side" of academia, in administration, event-planning and communications. I rediscovered how much I enjoyed science communications. Translating complex research into accessible language, telling the human stories behind the data, and building bridges between disciplines has felt like a fresh alternative to the solitary grind of academia. At times it's been somewhat awkward, having to explain my incomplete degree and the gaps in my CV. But I've also learned to be a bit kinder to myself. I have learned that rest is not laziness, that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and that my resumé does not determine my self-worth. I'm 30 now, and I've finally learned that I cannot bully my mind or body into health. But now, to quote the immortal words of The Human League, I'm coming back — back to my studies, back to Oxford, back to that dratted thesis that has haunted me for so many years. The University of Oxford, Rhodes House, and my wonderful college (Trinity) have graciously allowed me to return to my studies, and for this, I am deeply grateful. In a nutshell, my thesis is an intellectual history of Sir Frederic Truby King (1858-1938). King, a prominent New Zealand doctor, mental health reformer, and public health campaigner, is primarily remembered for his pioneering work in infant and maternal welfare with the Plunket Society. I am exploring King's life and legacy, focusing on his time as medical superintendent at Seacliff Asylum, where he developed ideas about moral treatment, environmental determinism and discipline in mental healthcare. In 2019, I wrote a column mildly questioning the sainthood of Captain Cook, arguing (hardly originally, I might add) that his voyages, whilst remarkable, also helped lay the foundations of a violent colonial order. A few days later, Emeritus Professor Erik Olssen published a rebuttal, dismissing my claims as "specious" and suggesting that I would surely fail my studies at Oxford. (Spoiler: I did drop out shortly after — but not, alas, for the reasons he thought.) The funniest thing about returning to my studies is that I am now poring over Olssen's (admittedly excellent) work on Truby King and the Plunket Society. The irony isn't lost on me. Academia has a long memory, but it also circles back in strange ways. The professor who once prophesied my failure now resides in my footnotes. The best thing about returning to my academic studies however has been the support of my supervisor. It is a somewhat revelatory experience to realise that a supervisor can actually be a wonderful mentor. My supervisor is not only brilliant but also kind, offering generous, thoughtful feedback and taking my disability support needs seriously. I'm now only two weeks away from my submission date, and the pressure is weighing on me once again. But I feel (relatively) calm and steady. I know that just pressing "submit" will be a personal triumph, even if I receive an abysmal grade. Just having got it done will be enough. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some footnotes to tidy up, and then I might go for a walk in the park. — Jean Balchin is an ODT columnist who has started a new life in Edinburgh.
Scotsman
17-06-2025
- Climate
- Scotsman
exact time heatwave to hit the Scottish Capital
A heatwave is to hit the UK later this week, with Edinburgh set to be hotter than LA over the weekend. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Temperatures are set to soar as we head into the weekend, reaching a high of 26C on Saturday, as LA has to settle for a slightly cooler 23C. The heat will start to rise from Thursday when it will be 21C in Edinburgh, rising to 25C on Friday and even hotter at 26C on Saturday, before dropping again on Sunday to a still toasty temperature of 22C. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Following a top temperature of 20C today, Tuesday, June 17, according to the latest weather forecast from the Met Office it will be cooler in Edinburgh on Wednesday, just 17C, with a cloudy morning followed by sunny intervals in the afternoon. It will feel cooler, around 14C, thanks to winds of up to 14mph and gusts of up to 29mph. According to the Met Office, Edinburgh is set to see plenty of sunshine over the next few days. With locals expected to flock to sun spots like Portobello Beach. The heat returns on Thursday with sunny intervals in the morning and bright sunshine in the afternoon, with the top temperature for the day of 21C expected at around 4pm, after a cooler start at 7am of just 13C. The heat will continue into the night, not dropping below a balmy 16C. And Edinburgers will feel the heat on Friday, with temperatures set to soar to 25C by the afternoon after starting at around 16C at 7am. Sunny intervals are forecast for most of the day, with sunshine in the evening, with another hot night expected as the temperature remains at 21C at 10pm for everyone on a night out, with it still feeling hot at 1am with the temperature at 18C. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Met Office is currently predicting Saturday to be the hottest day of this mini-heatwave, with sunny intervals forecast all day and the temperature rising from 18C at 7am to 25C by the afternoon, before dropping to 20C by 10pm. The usual sun spots of The Meadows, Princes Street Gardens and Portobello Beach are sure to be crammed with locals eager to make the most of the sunshine and heat. Sunny intervals are also expected in Edinburgh on Sunday, although it will feel noticeably cooler than the previous two days, with the temperature starting the day at 7am on 16C, rising to 21C by lunchtime and 22C in the afternoon, before dropping off to 16C/ 15C through the night and into the new week. Winds of up to 12mph and gusts of up to 21mph will make it feel a couple of degrees cooler throughout the day.
