I was a member of a community theatre company for teenagers in my hometown when I was in junior high and high school. The experience I had at the company through creating performances with other student members with various backgrounds is an essential part of my youth age and developed my interest and enthusiasm for theatre. In the third year of university, I had a chance to study abroad in the UK and saw the theatre works with my own eyes. I was fascinated by the British drama and performances and finally decided to study further and academically.

I completed my Master’s degree in Japan and selected the British playwrights in the 1990s for my thesis. I struggled in research because the resource of contemporary British theatre is quite limited in Japan in terms of access to academic materials as well as faculty and fellow researchers specialising in the same field. Also, because theatre is live art, I really hoped to see the actual performances and experience the culture and society that originated those works. Thus, I decided to study abroad. I was looking for a university whose faculty staff are experts in contemporary theatre besides the particular field I hoped to study. The University of Birmingham met my expectation.

I have a lot of support for my academic life. The monthly supervision with my supervisor always helps me to think about the thesis subject critically and deepens the analysis. My supervisor and other faculty members of the drama department also let me know about theatre research updates ranging from conferences, workshops to funding, which is really helpful, especially when I first came here and had no idea how to access the British academic community.

There are also student-led seminar groups in the School of English, Drama and Creative Studies. They run various activities such as reading groups, sharing research interests, coffee chat and pub drinking. Because we do not usually have regular seminars/lectures like taught students, this student community is very important for me to share each other’s academic experiences.

I also have academic support from the library workshops, Birmingham International Academy and Academic Writing Advisory Service. I think I have improved my academic writing in English with those sessions and workshops for international students.

As I have been in education for a number of years I came to the PhD with a lot of professional and academic knowledge. What has been evident is how that experience has enabled me to make the most of the opportunities that the university afford to PGR’s and given me the confidence to consider how I might use the resources and experience at the university to better network in the future.