Whilst writing this, it feels really strange having planned the pilot to be sitting in another room away from the research activities taking place. I was worried the facilitator might not turn up, she did. I was worried that my students would be absent, they weren’t. It has taken a year and a half of planning to find myself isolated in my staff room.

The BU Ethics panel proved a difficult process. The relief of my project being approved can only be explained in my physical well being (I have broken out in rashes on my wrists and chin, I have a boil on my cheek and my vertigo has returned).

When I saw that the BU chair approval email had come through, it was like being given a teabag after not having a cup of tea for at least a year.

I had anticipated that all my students would participate but only 10 out of 14 did. Two said it was because they had too much work to do and the others just quite simply refused point blank with no reason offered. A year and a half of working towards an approved proposal and two of my students just didn’t want to take part. It felt like a kick in the teeth but it reminded me that as a researcher you can never take anything for granted. I need this blog as doing a professional Doc can be extremely isolating at times.

Need to sign off for now as the pilot session will wrap within the next 10 minutes or so and I need to be ready to collate data produced today. Exciting to feel like a real researcher at last – even though I am not present.