This article has been co-written by Jemima Dooley, Florence Sargent, and Jay Bate
Sometimes when I walk across my university campus, I stop and think: what on earth is this place? I’m in a place of learning and teaching, but it’s also a place where tens of thousands of people live, shop, eat, work out, and socialise. It’s a huge employer, there’s an on-site nursery, an award-winning grounds team, an open-air swimming pool, bars, laundry and transportation services. It’s a city within a city.
Then I think: where do you even start with improving wellbeing in a place like this? Because that’s my job - I’m currently a Research Fellow on Nurture-U, a UKRI-funded project exploring the many different ways to support university student mental health. And because it’s my job, I then walk back to the office to answer emails and get lost in the minutiae of keeping a multi-million-pound project progressing.
But today, I don’t want to do this. I’ve had this exciting opportunity through the AMHDM series in the great Inspire the Mind digital magazine to take a minute to reflect on my role and identity within Nurture-U and the wider context of researching mental health. I want to use this article to think about the bigger picture and meditate on my place within it alongside our research in Nurture-U. And I’m very grateful for two of our Nurture-U student advisors, students with paid roles supporting our research, who have agreed to do this with me. Hopefully, our reflections will resonate and highlight how everyone in these vast institutions has their own individual struggles. If enough of us take a moment to consider how we can make universities a place which actively supports its students and staff, then we can start driving positive changes.
Jay
As a current undergraduate student, I truly understand and relate to the frustrations expressed by other students through my involvement with the Compassionate Campus project with Nurture-U. Many students share a sense of disconnect between the university's intentions to listen to student voices and the challenging reality of translating those intentions into meaningful action.
Coming to university from a small town in the North, I’ve always felt like I was trying to play catch-up. In my first year, it seemed like everyone else had it figured out while I was struggling to find my footing. It felt like there was an unspoken expectation from some tutors and the institution to achieve high grades right from the start. This pressure can be particularly daunting for those of us who did not have the same educational advantages before arriving at university.
Once you fall behind, catching up feels almost impossible. Higher education often overlooks the reality of personal challenges such as illness or grief, which many students face. It’s the reality of many students, regardless of where they are in their academic journey. The immense stress of trying to regain lost ground can create an overwhelming sense of anxiety and frustration.
However, students are more than just grades and assignments. Our experiences, struggles, and mental health should be valued as part of our educational journey. Initiatives like Nurture-U have the potential to shift how students are perceived within universities by promoting a more compassionate approach. Recognising that every student faces unique challenges is essential; we cannot simply pause our lives for the sake of our studies.
I'm excited to be a part of Nurture-U; a project where I feel that my voice is heard and valued. My hope is that we can inspire meaningful change within universities to foster a more supportive and understanding academic environment.
Florence
I joined Nurture-U at the start of my final year after returning from my study abroad in Virginia, USA. My exchange year, during the second year of my degree, was a significant adjustment. The American academic system was surprisingly different, with GPA grading, six modules per term, two semesters, and daily classes that felt more like being back in school. In a way, I experienced being a “fresher” three times: first in Exeter, then in the US, and finally back in my final year.
Support for study-abroad students is severely lacking. You often feel caught between two universities, not fully part of either. On top of that, unrealistic portrayals of university and exchange life add unnecessary pressure, resulting in the inevitable question: “Was it the best experience of your life?” It’s a tough question to answer when I reflect on the homesickness and imposter syndrome I struggled with while everyone else seemed to be coping.
As a first-generation university student, I sometimes felt out of place in the drinking-centric culture at UK universities. The minimal contact hours and the heavily weighted essays – with some accounting for 50% of a module grade – were initially a shock, and I often compared myself to others. To deal with this, I turned to sports and internships, trying to gain work experience while saving up for my year abroad. However, maximising resources at the University of Exeter like the Writing Centre, the Entrepreneurship Hub, and the Study Zone, or discovering new hobbies and societies, requires stepping out of your comfort zone—a daunting challenge when just getting out of bed feels overwhelming.
These experiences motivated me to join Nurture-U. We offer accessible tips and resources via social media to help reassure students who feel isolated or overwhelmed. Whether it’s your first or fourth year, everyone is navigating the unknown. However, Nurture-U reminds students that they’re not alone and that university doesn’t need to be “the best years of your life.” It’s just one more step on your journey.
Jemima
When I started my position on Nurture-U, I didn’t think much about the topic. I had been a mental health researcher for 10 years and I was excited by the opportunity to build on these skills in a new setting.
It was when we were running focus groups as part of our Compassionate Campus workstream that I noticed this project felt different. The topic was ‘Classism’, and students described the exact feeling of alienation I had experienced. I was an 18-year-old from a comprehensive in rural Cornwall starting at Oxford University with everyone around me comparing their “London day schools”. Another time, I was talking to a postgraduate and her recent experience of extreme stress took me straight back to the third year of my PhD where I had regular panic attacks.
But my discomfort stems more from the realisation that nothing has changed in over 15 years since I started university. In Nurture-U, we are taking a ‘whole university’ approach to improving wellbeing. We’re advocating for systems and staff to adapt to encompass and enhance the experience of a diverse body of students.
However, alongside my research role, I also teach MSc students. I see their daily struggle with busy lives pulling them in many different directions. I also see the teaching team often marking and answering emails in the evenings and weekends, juggling family life and health issues. Daily, I see postdocs exhausted from jumping between short-term contracts; I see professors with back-to-back meetings eating sandwiches off-screen in Teams calls, and I see lecturers burnt out and overwhelmed.
When I think of this, why am I surprised that student wellbeing hasn’t changed in my nearly 20 years of university experience? How on earth can I think that a project like Nurture-U can make a difference?
Then I come back to what my friend said to me once. With each research project, we are adding our brick to a tower of progress. In this role, I have met a huge number of inspiring, driven, caring individuals who make universities what they are. And I’m proud to be one of them.