College of Science & Engineering

Vanessa Johnson - Global Partnership Engagement Lead

I grew up in a small town in West Dorset in a modest lower-middle-class household. Neither of my parents had done A levels at school, although both had undertaken higher education as mature students. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life as a teenager other than that I wanted to travel, particularly to India. This wish came mostly from reading travel books at the local library, rather than any real understanding of what India was actually like. I didn’t do well the first time I took my A levels - mostly my fault - so I left school and went to college to resit one of them and take another. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made as it gave me a sense of independence and ownership over my study decisions. As a result of this, when I had successfully resat my History A level, I left home, got a job, saved money, and two and a half years later, travelled to India. This was in 1989, pre-mobile phones and pre-internet, and I often wonder what my mum thought as she let me get the train to London to catch my first-ever flight to Delhi.

Over the past twenty years of working in student recruitment, I have often sought to reassure anxious young people who are unsure of what to study, that life doesn’t end with a poor exam result or a wrong decision, and the career you may end up in, might not exist yet - so how can you worry about it? After travelling for 9 months I started my degree in History at the University of Warwick and got so much more out of it for being older and surer of it being the right thing for me to study. I chose my degree there because it offered two things – the opportunity to study abroad and the requirement to learn a language. I spent the second year of my degree in the USA, and I learnt Spanish. The things I found particularly challenging studying abroad were navigating an enormous university, the different sense of humour, particularly understanding the different assessment styles and grading requirements.

As a result of studying abroad and learning Spanish (not as well as I thought at the time), I was able to undertake a PhD in 17th-century Spanish politics at the University of Leeds, and thanks to the UK being in the EU, move to Madrid to do my research in the archives there. Seven years later, having completed my PhD, I was still living in Madrid and able to speak fluent Spanish – as well as being able to read 17th-century handwriting. Opening a historical manuscript, wearing the obligatory white cotton gloves, is still one of the most exciting things I know.

The experience of travelling, studying and living abroad, and dealing with bureaucracy in a second language, has given me an insight into what it is like to come to the UK to study as an international student. I passionately believe that being the other completely out of your comfort zone is an incredibly valuable experience that helps you to confront your own prejudices and preconceptions, and one that I would encourage all students to undertake. I would also encourage all students to get to know the students from other cultural backgrounds in their classes and halls of residence and volunteer to act as buddies or mentors for international students to help them to overcome the challenges of being in a strange culture and particularly trying to learn in a second (or sometimes third) language. Your life can only be enriched by so doing!

My current role at the University is as the Global Partnership Engagement Lead in the College of Science and Engineering, helping the College’s Internationalisation Team to develop and nurture really enriching and mutually beneficial partnerships with some of the best universities abroad. Hopefully, this will enable future staff and students to participate in the life-changing experiences that were open to me.

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First published: 24 May 2023