My name is James and I have just completed my Master’s in Military History at Brunel University, also, I hold a BA (Hons) in History from Brunel University London. I am a mature student at the university, having chosen to come to university later in life. The disability that I have is dyslexia and I shall go on to explain how this affects me.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty affecting reading, writing, and the interpretation of words and letters. In my instance it affects my reading and writing ability, I do not notice for instance if I repeat myself or if I put a word such as “form instead of from” which means spellcheck on a word does not pick up the error. To my mind when I am proofreading back my work, I see the word that is meant to be there, and I do not see the error or mistake. This affects my grade on occasions but has not held me back in my academic achievements. I always feel extremely proud of every single essay that I write and see it as an accomplishment and achievement. In the History and Politics department at Brunel, we have the chance to collect our essays back in person from our lecturers. This actually for me really helps as they discuss and go through the points of where you have gone wrong and how you can improve. This really helps as one, you feel like your view is being respected and two, it helps to improve your work the next time around, even if it may be for a different lecturer.
Brunel has supported me a great deal concerning my dyslexia and it is one of the reasons that I feel that my work has improved so much. Firstly, the university helped with having me tested as an adult for dyslexia that allowed for a support package to be put into place to then help with my academic work.
Secondly, the university, once they knew what support I was entitled to, helped to put in place study skills sessions and software for me to use on my laptop. Along with this due to the nature of my dyslexia, I prefer printed out materials and the university helped arrange access to lecture information in advance. This both allowed me to digest the information and lookup any historic terms or terms I was unsure of in advance. This allowed me to have constructive input into discussions taking place in my lectures and allowed me to achieve and get everything that I could out of my studies.
I encountered challenges before joining Brunel University London and it is the main reason that I decided to come to Brunel.
I started my degree part-time through The Open University, which allowed me to continue to work full time. I decided in 2017 to leave my employment as a manager for a telecommunications company to pursue my passion for history and to seek a university that would offer me further support for my dyslexia.
I had been assessed at school for my dyslexia and had been advised that I had dyslexia, but this had lapsed when I became an adult and I needed to be retested. The Open University while extremely efficient and good at what they did could not help me to the same level I felt as Brunel. Brunel fully funded and paid for the testing to take place as with The Open University I had to pay for the assessment to take place and I would not get this money back. A decision of deciding if the university was the right option for me was the decision that I wanted to retrain and change my career. I want to pursue a career in academia and for me, I felt Brunel was my best option. I came around on a one to one basis due to work commitments and spoke with several different lecturers within my current department and it just seemed to all fall into place. Brunel is really friendly and supportive, and I felt that I did not need to look any further in terms of finding a university to transfer to.
Achievements that I am proud of at Brunel are gaining a 2:1 for my undergraduate degree and my dissertation gaining a First for examining the Role of the Civil Authorities in the Channel Islands winning the Timothy Fernyhough Prize for the Best Contribution to History. This was in addition to having other numerous awards bestowed on me throughout my degree. It is a nice feeling to have your hard work recognized and also shows that my dyslexia has not held me back. If anything, I believe my dyslexia has meant I have worked harder and pushed myself even further and it shows through in my passion and dedication to my subject. I have completed 15,000 words for a Master’s dissertation and am eagerly awaiting the grade and have decided to stay at Brunel to complete a PhD due to the community at Brunel being so friendly and supportive.
Tips that I would give for fellow students are:
- Do not be afraid to ask for help, the university has help and support in place for us as students.
- Take the opportunity as it can only help you to improve and get even better.
- Speak to your lecturers for advice and guidance this is something that has helped me throughout my time at Brunel and has given me skills and knowledge that I can use in many different walks of life.
- Make use of the study skills sessions offered as part of the support package and also make your lecturers aware if you have dyslexia, it is not something to hide lots of intelligent and high-profile people have dyslexia, including Presidents and Princes.
- Lastly, just enjoy your time at Brunel and do not stress too much, and seek the right help and support if you need it.
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