19 - Reaching beyond the horizon: being inspired to succeed against the odds

Summary

I was first introduced to higher education through the University College London Horizons programme, an outreach programme for underserved schools in London. Inspired by meeting Black students at Horizons, I applied for and eventually completed my Master in Science (MSci) in Biological Sciences. This experience is testament to how important the visibility of Black people in academic spaces has been to me since the beginning of my journey. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis during my master's and I am now completing a PhD. Being transparent and setting expectations has been paramount for my progress in academia as a Black disabled woman. I would not have been able to choose this path for myself without having strong support systems, which reinforced my sense of belonging when my educational institutions could not or would not.

My personal inspiration to succeed

I am a proud descendent of the Windrush generation, who uprooted their lives to provide opportunities for their children as economic migrants from Jamaica to the UK.

My paternal grandmother, Viola Webb (née Lawrence), was raised in Nine Mile in the heart of St Ann, Jamaica, where the soil is red and rich in bauxite. Viola settled a few miles west in Alva, where she worked as a homemaker and had 12 children, including my father, Lincoln. In my father's early 20s, he worked in electrical engineering, before transitioning into security work in the Jamaican capital, Kingston.

My maternal grandmother, Gloria Lee (née Meghoo), was raised in Kingston, but worked abroad as a typist in the USA and the UK for much of her adult life. Gloria first came to the UK as part of the Windrush generation in 1960, but her children, including my mother, Jennifer, were raised in Kingston. In my mother's early 20s, she's grew an affection for a security guard called Lincoln, whom she’d met on one of her regular solo trips to the local football stadium. They married in 1989 and moved to London with a small toddler in tow.