In March 2021 I went back to school, starting an Honours course (part-time) at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and winning a scholarship to study a collection of letters and papers held by the State Library.

In 2021 I completed the coursework component of the course, finishing four units (achieving a GPA of 7).

Humanities Research Methods armed me with ‘ideas, knowledge, and skills key to doing research in the Humanities’. It required me to write an annotated bibliography of key sources for my thesis, a thesis plan and an essay about my discipline.

To build upon my ‘grasp of disciplinary methods and knowledge through focusing on a special topic’ (travel writing) – that was the aim of the Advanced Reading Seminar, for which I wrote a critical review and an essay (a travel narrative).

For Communicating Research I prepared a pitch and proposal for a research project unrelated to my thesis, whose findings I presented in the form of a podcast. The final assessment task for this unit required me to create and deliver a Pecha Kucha conference presentation, which I based on my thesis topic.

The Negotiated Study unit gave me an opportunity to complete my exegesis (the theoretical component of my thesis). In preparation I submitted a proposal, before writing the actual essay, for which I was jointly awarded the University of Tasmania’s Morris Miller Prize in Australian Literature, an annual prize awarded to the UTAS student deemed to have the best Honours research project in Australian literature.

In 2022 I wrote my thesis, ‘The Crossing’, a creative response to the collection I studied, for which I received a second Morris Miller Prize, this time in my own right. I graduated in December with a First Class Honours.

I’m now preparing a public program for the State Library of Tasmania (an exhibition and a public talk).